Altered Reality : Final Fantasy VII
by Luminus Prime
Summary: In a world where religion has divided humanity by conflict, lies and deceit run deep, and the true nature of the war is buried. Join Cloud Strife and his unfortunate party as they stumble across the truth and uncover the reality behind the lies.
1. Chapter I Miseria Cantare

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story. Many things have been purposefully changed; some drastic, some minor. If you're looking for a story that's grounded in the original FF7 world, this is probably not what you're after. However, if you can keep an open mind and not compare Altered Reality to the game itself, I feel you'll enjoy the story.

In keeping with the spirit of the Final Fantasy games, I've placed several things in the story at different points to pay homage to other games, movies, and music that I like. So, if you're reading and you notice something in the story that seems familiar to you, then it may very well be me tipping my hat to the things I enjoy.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

A new chapter will come each week, so check back often.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review, and I'll address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Anyone who read chapter one when I first posted it here last year, I encourage you to read it again. Chapter one was changed slightly in order to keep it consistent with the rest of the story.

I hope you enjoy reading Altered Reality as much as I loved writing it.

Luminus

* * *

Prelude

The Birth of God

The nations of the east were shattered; long years of war had destroyed any semblance of unity that mankind had once attained. With this lack of brotherhood came a thirst for violence as power hungry men and women fought one another for control. It was a time of fear; every village, town, and city was on its own as they battled for supremacy. Violence had stolen away their grand countries and allegiances, yet they chose violence once more in their futile attempt to reform what they had lost. Compassion and kindness faded, eroded by greed and the hatred that permeated all life on the world.

It was in this time of darkness and despair that a seemingly insignificant event occurred in the small town of Kalm. The mayor had sent his son and a few guards to the north to investigate rumors of unusual activities by the local creatures, but they had not returned. Search parties were sent out only to discover that the small group had been slaughtered by monsters as they had traveled. The bodies were brought back to the town, but few showed interest in what had happened; death was commonplace and the loss of the mayor's son was of no consequence to anyone but him. It was not until the son's funeral that the people of Kalm took note of this unimportant youth. As the mayor wept his way through a eulogy, the young man's corpse rose up from his coffin, his wounds gone as if they'd never existed, and he was dead no longer.

Shock spread through the crowd like wild fire as the resurrected youth spoke to the people gathered there, telling them that he had been chosen to come back from beyond to lead humanity to peace. At first, few believed him as most were too confused by this event to think clearly, but as the days passed their doubts were erased. The reborn youth began performing acts and miracles that even the most skillful of mages could only dream of. Word of his resurrection and newfound powers spread quickly through Kalm until all there believed him and listened earnestly to every word he spoke. Soon the news crept to other cities and people began making their way to Kalm to see if such wild rumors were true. Those who met with him quickly returned to their homes to tell all those that they knew about the unbelievable news; Rufus Shinra had died and returned as a god to bring peace to their war-torn world.

Over the next thirty years the wars of the eastern continent were brought to an end as a new and stable government was forged to pave the way for the future. The Holy Shinra Empire was created alongside of the Church of the Divine Emperor, as Rufus became called by the people. The city of Midgar was founded to the north-west of Kalm, and thus history would be forever changed. The influence of the Holy Shinra Empire grew daily, spreading to the Frozen North and the inner continent. Slowly Rufus' followers grew in numbers and the borders of his Empire expanded.

Unfortunately, things would not remain so simple. As the Holy Shinra Empire gained more and more ground on the inner continent, it drew the attention of the only other truly organized government in the world. The Republic of Wutai, which spanned the entire continent of Wutai as well as sporadic territories on the inner continent, became fearful of the Holy Shinra Empire's size and proximity. After so many years of striving to maintain peaceful relationships with the other peoples and cultures that existed on the inner continent, the Holy Shinra Empire was encroaching upon their borders. Fearful that the Empire's missionaries would steal away their citizens and their land, Wutai refused to allow emissaries from Rufus to enter into their cities.

The people of the Holy Shinra Empire were outraged at Wutai's refusal to hear the message of love and peace that Rufus' had brought to their world. Tension between the two nations escalated as more of the inner continent accepted Rufus' teachings and became part of the Holy Shinra Empire, causing it to grow larger by the day. Protests began to mount outside of Wutai territories and it quickly became dangerous for Wutai citizens to venture outside of their cities.

The dispute reached a fever pitch when Wutai officials declared that they would remain resolute in their refusal to be swayed by the teachings of Rufus Shinra, even going so far as to declare him a false god. The effect of their accusation was instantaneous. News spanned the Holy Shinra Empire of the "non-believers", prompting the Empire's citizens to view the Wutai people as heathen. Though Rufus himself attempted to calm his people, many were beyond reason; their god had been insulted, and such a thing demanded a response.

Rioters composed of the more fanatical of Rufus' followers began to spring up around Wutai cities, and they were met with harsh resistance by local authorities which resulted in fatalities on both sides. In the beginning the Holy Shinra Empire refused to declare war, claiming that they wished to calm the matter and find a peaceful solution. However, with their people on the inner continent now being threatened, the Republic of Wutai took measures into their own hands and began deploying soldiers to their borders. Forced to respond in kind or leave themselves open to possible invasion, the Holy Shinra Imperial Army was dispatched and stationed likewise. Although no one truly knows who struck first, the armies soon began to clash and what had begun as riots quickly grew into a full fledged holy war.

Now, forty-three years after the first battle took place, and nearly eighty years since Rufus first came back from the dead to lead mankind, the war with Wutai still wages on. Although the Republic of Wutai's home continent has never been invaded, they have lost much of what they once owned on the inner continent. It is well known that the Holy Shinra Empire had the size and capabilities to end the war long ago, but Rufus refuses to allow his armies to fully assault the Republic.

From his tower in Midgar, a city which grew so large that it was divided into eight sectors each the size of a normal city, the Divine Emperor continues to hope for a peaceful solution. However, in recent years demonic beasts have begun sporadically appearing across the Empire, attacking man, woman, and child without prejudice. Although the Church of the Divine Emperor has never declared so, many believe these demons to be in league with Wutai. After all the years of war and with both nations being so polarized in their beliefs that they despise the other, will the battle ever truly end and bring about the age of peace that Rufus promised he would lead the world to? Or will the future spiral further into madness than ever before?

* * *

Chapter I

Miseria Cantare

It was a beautiful day in the cold forest of Icicle. The sun was high, sending down rays of light that punctured through the canopy of trees and offered warmth to the small patches of earth that it reached. On the ground the Icicle Petals, for which the forest was named, bloomed everywhere. They were a unique species of flowers that seemed to thrive in the cold regions of the north, and especially here in this place. Their light blue stems and nearly crystalline petals were truly a sight to behold, and as the sunlight flooded down and touched them the light was reflected and redirected off of the petals, forming beautiful streaks of color that crisscrossed all over the forest. This was Aerith Gainsborough's favorite time of day.

Quiet steps carried the young girl over the snow and she was very careful not to step on any of the flowers. The long, thick red coat that covered her from neck to feet hid the fact that she was as beautiful as the flowers she so adored. Deep breaths were taken, and her light pink lips spread in a warm smile as her bright green eyes took in the breathtaking scenery. As she walked, she reached up with one black gloved hand and tucked a few strands of light brown hair that had fallen out of place behind her ear. The rest of her hair was perfectly positioned in a long braid in the back with a violet ribbon tied into it and two incredibly curly bangs hanging down on each side of her pretty, round face. In the crook of her left arm, she held a basket that was already filled with several of the flowers, and she now crouched down and picked a few more.

Gathering flowers was a habit she had adopted long ago, and she now left her tiny village and came to the forest at least once a week to do so; it was one of the many things that brought her joy in her quiet, peaceful life. Yet this morning was not like the others; this time Aerith was not alone. As she pulled one of the small flowers from the ground and placed it in her basket, she heard a sound to her left. Turning her head quickly, she let out a scream and stumbled back, falling to her rear end as a massive, white furred creature began stalking towards her. Its long neck stretched out as it growled at her, the claws on its front paws elongating while it approached.

Her eyes widened with horror, Aerith tried to get to her feet and run, but the creature swatted at her, its paw landing sharply on her right leg, buckling it and sending her crashing back to the ground. Aerith cried out in pain, and wasted no time in holding her hands up towards the monster as a burst of fire erupted from her gloves and struck the beast on one of its arms. The monster wasn't phased at all. Aerith had learned long ago that she was naturally skilled at both black and white magic, but she'd never bothered to enhance them much. As she looked to the dripping jaws of the creature in horror, she knew that she wasn't strong enough to stop it; her life was about to end. For one terrifying moment her past began to flash before her eyes, and then as the creature raised its clawed paw up to strike her down, her eyelids shut tightly as she wordlessly uttered a prayer her mother had taught her when she was a child.

Moments later there was a ferocious cry of agony that shook the entire forest, causing tiny drops of snow and ice to rain down from the tops of the trees as if it were a blizzard, and the enormous creature lay dead at the startled girl's feet.

* * *

The opponents watched one another, waiting patiently for the other to move so that they could plot and plan their way to victory. It was silent, each of them were concentrating on the battle at hand. There could be no mistakes on either end; whoever faltered first would be the one to fall. It came time, and the white knight repositioned for a carefully planned attack, realizing only too late that it had been a mistake. The black knight came up swiftly from the left, knocking the white knight down and bringing that confrontation to a close. 

"Jerk, you cheated." A young man said as he let out an annoyed sigh. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest; he had a medium build to his body, but made up for his wiry structure with very well developed muscles that made him far stronger than he looked. His blond hair was a wild mess of long spikes in the front but was very short in the back. Most of the spikes were angled to the right side of his head, some falling down, and some standing up. His strangely glowing, bright blue eyes surveyed the precarious situation he'd gotten himself into as he ran a hand down his narrow jaws and over his pointed chin, knowing full well that he should have seen that move coming.

"Cheated?" His friend scoffed from across the table, rolling grey eyes as he did so. His squared jaw and wide shoulders made it clear that he was the older of the two; he had a good five years on the blond. In sharp contrast to his friend, who seemed small in comparison, he had a fairly broad build. His hair was similar to his friends: spiked and messy, but his was black, and almost all the spikes angled towards the back of his head. His hair was also much longer, falling down past his shoulders where it swayed as he shook his head in a firm negative to his friend's accusation.

"It's not my fault you weren't paying attention." Then with a devious grin he whispered, "Maybe next time you should focus a little harder on the board instead of watching Tifa bend over to pick up a glass."

The blond's eyes narrowed swiftly as he gave his friend a look that could kill, "Shut up, Zach. I wasn't looking. Besides, how do you know she was bending over?"

"Because, Cloud." Zach continued grinning, "I'm not in denial."

"I hate you." Cloud said as he leaned back in his chair and looked over the chess pieces to determine his next move. The two of them were sitting inside of the Seventh Heaven bar, but they were the only patrons at the time. They had arrived not thirty minutes earlier after waking up and putting on their dark blue Holy Shinra Imperial Army uniforms, the belts of which were marked with a symbol that identified them as members of the army's elite Special Operations unit. They were both very proud of their ranks; it was highly unusual for anyone their age to be in such an advanced unit. Tifa, the owner of the Seventh Heaven, was a childhood friend of Cloud's who had decided to move to Midgar with him when he'd enlisted to serve in the Army just five years prior. The bar wasn't much, but Tifa managed to make it alright from month to month, and since she lived in the upstairs area it cut down her expenses quite a lot.

As the two of them bickered back and forth, Tifa quietly walked to their table and slid into an empty seat, placing three glasses and a pitcher of ale down as she did so. To say that the girl was attractive would be a severe understatement; she had an indescribably curvaceous figure that was just the right size in all the right places. On top of that was the fact that she was a rather skilled martial artist, and her exercises kept her body fit and very nicely muscled. She was clothed in a pair of tight black shorts that extended to just above her knees, and an off white t-shirt that hugged her skin in eye-catching ways. The finishing touch, though, was her face; a heart shaped vision of beauty that fell somewhere between adorably cute and viciously sexy. She smiled at the both of them and tossed her long, chocolate hair over her shoulders as began pouring each of them a drink.

"You boys stop your fighting," she said with a voice that was as cute as her appearance. "What are you doing playing this anyway? No offense, but it doesn't really seem like the kind of game you would be interested in."

The two of them thanked her and took their glasses. Cloud took a sip of the alcoholic beverage before responding to her inquiry, "Lieutenant General Zahn likes the game, says it helps us learn to think tactics out thoroughly."

"Mmm," a noise of acknowledgement from the girl. "I'd say it's working like a charm on you."

Zach snickered at her sarcastic remark before raising his glass to his lips for a drink. Cloud merely shook his head at the girl, "And to think, I call you my best friend."

"Oh, stop it." Tifa reached out and pushed him lightly on the shoulder. Cloud played along and rocked back a little as if she'd actually tried to knock him over.

"And now you try to make me fall! Geez," he looked over to Zach, who was chuckling quietly to himself, "You think you know some one, and then bam!"

The older soldier shrugged and smiled, "You never can tell. Behind that pretty face lays the mind of a devil."

Tifa laughed at the both of them before finally lifting her own glass into her hand to take a slow drink. As she lowered the thick glass back to the table top she let out a small yawn and stretched her arms out, "So, when are you guys leaving tonight?"

"Pretty late," Cloud said as he leaned forward, propping himself up with his elbows on the edge of the table. "Lieutenant General Zahn wants us to travel at night since that's when the monster problems have been the worst. He figures we might spot something on our way."

Tifa nodded, understanding. "Any idea when you'll be back?"

"We're supposed to report to High Priestess Elena at the cathedral in Kalm." Realizing that their game had been forgotten, Zach began toying with the chess pieces on his side of the board. "I assume anything that involves her directly will take us some time to deal with."

"Ah, what a life." Cloud said with a laugh, "Join the army, serve the Divine Emperor, take care of the monsters that the normal soldiers are too stupid to handle. Just what I signed up for!"

Tifa giggled, but Zach just rolled his shoulders in another shrug. "It's not so bad. Gets us out of the city for a few days at least. Besides, it means that the Lieutenant General likes us; he only chooses his best to go on field missions like this. Maybe we'll get a promotion."

"Oh come on, Zach. We all knew that he liked you long before this; you're the biggest suck up in the unit."

"I'm the suck up?" Zach scoffed. "I could have sworn that was your job."

"No, that's definitely you. Besides-" Cloud cut off with a sudden gasp of pain as his hands went up to rub at his temples.

"Are you okay?" Tifa asked as her brows knitted with worry.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Cloud said as he blinked his eyes and shook his head. "That was weird. My head just started hurting, and for a second I saw some forest with snow everywhere."

"Right." Zach said as the chess piece he was toying with was promptly thrown at Cloud's forehead, but the younger soldier managed to deflect it and send it bouncing into his glass of ale. "I think you'd better lay off the booze for a while man, you're going mental."

"Damn it!" Cloud said as he grabbed his glass and stared at the chess piece lying at the bottom. "Look what you made me do!"

"Serves you right, being a bully to your friends." Tifa said as her bright smile returned.

"I'm a bully?" Cloud scoffed as he picked the piece out of his drink and wiped it off on his pants. "He's bigger than me, how can I be the bully?"

"Because I'm the nice guy." Zach said, flashing a grin towards his friend and a wink to Tifa, who just chuckled at him.

"Now I didn't say _that_," Tifa continued to joke.

"Okay, maybe not nice," Zach admitted. "But certainly better than this living oxymoron over here."

Cloud rolled his eyes, knowing instantly what it was his friend was referring to, "God, when are you going to get off of that? It's not like I _wanted_ to be good at white magic."

"No, no. It's not so bad." Zach laughed, "I think we should use it as an advertisement: Sector Seven Defense Force, home of the world's only swordsman healer; he'll cut you down, then fix you up!"

"Ha ha," Cloud said, his voice tinged with fake annoyance. "At least it's better than you two; materia-mage and grey magic caster, you guys are just dripping with skill."

"Hey," Tifa complained. "Grey has its uses. It's great for when I can't sleep, or when a certain immature little blond boy needs to shut up."

"Aw," whined Cloud, trying to sound upset. "That's just mean."

"Well, you deserved it." Zach paused for a moment before adding, "Again."

"You guys are terrible." Tifa laughed as she scooted her chair back and stood up. Tilting her head slightly, she looked at the clock above the bar and frowned. "Probably have customers soon," she said absentmindedly. Looking back to them she continued, "Guess I better go get a bath. Mind watching the bar for me until I'm done?"

"No problem," Cloud happily said. "We still have about an hour before we need to get ready to leave."

Tifa smiled and nodded, "Okay. I'll get done real fast and then we can get something to eat before you go."

The two of them nodded their approval of her idea and watched as she headed upstairs where they could hear running water a few moments later. Now alone in the bar, Zach looked to Cloud and shook his head, a look of disappointment on his face.

"What?" the blond asked in confusion.

"Opportunity wasted, man." Zach said as he reached to his right and picked up his weapon, a five inch wide, fifty inch long cleaving blade that he'd nicknamed Buster Sword, and toyed with it. "You should have gone with her."

That comment prompted an incredibly annoyed expression to cross Cloud's features, "Shut up, Zach. You know I can't do that. She's like a sister to me."

"A sister, huh? Is that why you're always peeking at her breasts while she's not looking?"

"Yeah, well." Cloud's face didn't hide his distaste for where this conversation was going, "I said she's _like_ a sister, but she's not, so it can't hurt."

"I just don't understand you," Zach said in utter disbelief. "Look, she's hot, she's your best friend, _and_ she's trying her best to get you to notice her. How can you not go for that?"

"Tch. I can give you the first two, but I don't buy that last one."

"Oh, come on!" Zach groaned as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "She moved here to stay close to you, didn't she? I'd say that's a big sign."

Cloud shook his head, "You don't know that. Nibelheim was a worthless little town; she was always itching to leave. My decision to come to Midgar just gave her the final push."

"Yeah, because she wanted to stay close to you." Zach's tone left a non-verbal 'duh' at the end of his sentence.

A sigh of frustration left Cloud's lips; he was quickly growing tired of this line of questioning. "Okay, listen. Maybe she is interested in me like that, but it wouldn't be right. There was _no one else_ at home that she could really go after, and since I had always been her friend she kind of attached to me like that."

"So, you think she was only interested in you because you were the only guy who was really available, and so you don't want to take advantage of that?"

Cloud nodded, and Zach threw another chess piece at him.

"You dumb ass," Zach said as his ignorant friend caught the bishop. "If that were the case, she'd have already fallen for me. I'm much better looking, and god knows I've actually_ tried_ to get her to pay attention to me. Trust me, buddy, you're not a last resort to her."

Another sigh was let out and Cloud shook his head again, "Look, would you just drop it?" Searching for a fast way out of the conversation, he handed Zach the piece that was in his hand and began setting the white side of the board up again. "Let's play another game real fast."

"Suit yourself, Cloud." Zach shrugged and began rearranging the black pieces on his side of the board. "But she's not going to wait around for you to stop being an idiot forever."

Cloud didn't respond, he merely finished with his pieces and moved one of his pawns forward to start the game. In the back of his mind, he knew that Zach was right, but he didn't know what to do about it.

* * *

The Caster News Network; created fifteen years ago by the Empires Magic and Technology Research Division, it was a system that allowed the transfer of full motion video all over the world. There were only a handful of actual caster spheres, all located within important Imperial structures, such as the palace. They were used to capture moving pictures and voices from Imperial spokespeople. The captured video was then dispersed on an invisible wave that any properly tuned viewing device could receive and play back. 

Deep beneath the city of Midgar, one such receiver was activated. The device hummed to life and began emitting a light that hit against the dirty grey wall behind it, producing video of a man reporting the day's Imperial news. The image on the wall flickered as the spokesperson discussed the results of an investigation into an explosion at Branch Thirteen of the Magic and Technology Research Division five days prior. As the man announced the findings, the four people watching in this underground bunker grinned in satisfaction. The report was definitive; the terrorist organization known as Avalanche had struck again.

Biggs and Wedge sat on a patched up old couch in one corner of the room, acting less like terrorists and more like kids in a candy store. They were an unusual pair, opposites in almost every way except for their ages; they were both in their mid twenties. Biggs was a lean man, but he did have some muscle on him as well. In an attempt to look more impressive than he really was, he wore baggy pants and a small t-shirt, both dark green because he thought that it was an intimidating color. Over that he wore several belts and straps, none of which seemed to serve much of a purpose except to add to his look. Biggs' hair was brushed back and became wild and messy near the rear of his head, and he wore a red bandana tied around his forehead, the tails of which hung over his left ear. Other than being slightly additional muscle, Biggs served as the team's information and supplies man. As he heard the report, he leaned back and scratched a mark onto the wall behind him, adding to the tally he had going.

Unlike Biggs, Wedge didn't fill much of a role on the team other than being their cook, but he certainly did fill space on the couch. At nearly three times the girth of his friend, Wedge was noticeably overweight. Apparently, he realized that he couldn't do much to make himself seem impressive like Biggs tried so hard to do, so he had long ago decided he didn't care how he looked. As a result, Wedge wore a rather odd combination of colors: bright blue pants and a pale yellow shirt, neither of them all that loose on him. A red bandana donned his head as well, but he wore it over the top of his head rather than around it, and tufts of messy black hair stuck out from beneath it. Like Biggs, he too wore many straps, but his were actually there for good reasons; one set held his pants in place by crossing over his shoulders, while another contained a few explosives for him to use since he wasn't exactly the most skilled in combat. Laughing at his friends old fashioned score card, Wedge took a sloppy bite of a rather large sandwich he was holding and went back to watching the receiver.

The person who'd made the explosives for Wedge sat apart from them in a ratty old chair. Jessie was a pretty girl who currently had her looks hidden beneath a mask of grease and oil that made her light brown eyes stand out even more than usual. Though she was the youngest member at twenty-one, she was arguably the most important; it was her skills with bombs that gave Avalanche its ability to attack with power. She wore forest green pants and a navy shirt that weren't exactly loose on her lithe form. Coincidentally, she was the only one of the group who wore armor in the form of a breast plate that truly lived up to its name thanks to its form fitting designed that accentuated her figure rather well. Beneath the soft brown bangs and pony tail of her hair she wore her red bandana in the same fashion that Biggs did. A beaming smile of pride touched her cute cheeks as the report made mention of the explosive device that had brought down a three story building in less than twenty seconds.

The three of them congratulated each other on making the news again, once more striking fear into the hearts of the Imperials. Their leader, however, said nothing, choosing instead to remain silent as he stood in another corner of the room and watched the report go on. Practically everything about him made him stand out from the others. In fact, aside from his clothing which resembled Bigg's choice in style, he didn't fit in with the rest of them very well at all. Standing just over six feet tall, Barret was a walking mass of muscles. From his broad shoulders, to his squared jaw, to his menacing glare, everything about him was intimidating. Small scars were present all over his dark skinned body, a testament to all that the thirty-five year old man had been through in his life. He was the only one with facial hair, a scruffy goatee, and the only one who didn't wear a bandana of any sort over his short cropped, dark hair. Of course, the most striking thing about him was his right arm. It was covered from the elbow down in a bulky black glove that he never seemed to take off. As the report wrapped up, he heard the words he'd been dreading from the start.

"Luckily," the spokesman on the wall said, "No major projects were lost in the terrorist attack, and all work has been resumed in earnest at other facilities."

"Mother ----er," Barret cursed, his voice gruff and clearly agitated. That particular line was something the Turks always told the caster reporters to say if Avalanche hadn't destroyed what they were going after. It was a way of telling the terrorists that they'd failed again. "Another dead end."

The celebration swiftly ended as the others heard the announcement. Despite all their attacks, they never seemed to slow Shinra's Research Division down; their failures were beginning to become discouraging.

"Man, I was sure we had them that time," Jessie sighed in disappointment as she toyed with her ponytail. "And I made a special bomb just for that place."

Taking another bite of his lunch, Wedge let out a belch and said "At least we cost them some money."

"Not enough, chubby. I doubt they care much about cash when they control most of the world." Biggs grunted as he kicked a rock across the floor, "They're always one step ahead of us."

"Shut up, you fools." Barret barked as he leaned forward in his seat, watching the video feed intensely. "Something's up."

The group silenced and looked back to the flickering image on the wall as the news continued, "In a rather abrupt turn of events, the Divine Emperor Rufus Shinra has left the grand city of Midgar for only the second time this year. Apparently, the Emperor departed early this morning, just before sunrise. When asked why the Emperor had left without giving word of his intentions in advance, Director Tseng of the Turks Intelligence Agency said that the Emperor felt a sudden need to journey across the Empire and visit his people. Tseng was kind enough to inform us that the Emperor would be gone for some time, and that his journey would begin in his hometown of Kalm and end after visiting over thirty villages, towns, and cities across the world."

The spokesperson continued, but the four members of Avalanche were no longer listening, they had heard all they needed to hear. They were all quiet, letting the news sink in as they thought about the possibilities. It was Biggs who first said what they were all thinking, a wide grin on his face as his eyes sparkled.

"Rufus is gone." He said. "Dude, we can get away with _anything_!"

"Without the Emperor, the Imperials will be lost!" Jessie said excitedly, "They won't be able to see our attacks coming as fast, or react as quickly!"

Wedge nodded enthusiastically, "We gotta take advantage of this!"

Cracking the knuckles hidden beneath that large glove, Barret's lips parted in a devilish smile that didn't do well at masking his intentions. "Well boys n' girls, looks like we just got ourselves a lucky break. Jessie, you got something made up we can use right away?"

She gave her boss a sly look and a thumb up, "You know it."

"That's my girl; you two go help her get ready." Barret jerked a thumb towards the door and the three of them jumped up and hurried to Jessie's work room for supplies.

The Avalanche leader stood and walked to a map on the wall. His thick gloved hand moved a finger over the layout of Midgar, trying to decide on a target to hit in this opportune moment before he finally decided on one of the northern complexes.

"I think you can aim higher than that, Barret." Came a quiet voice from behind him.

Barret whirled around, his hand going to the knife on his belt as he searched for the intruder, but relaxed as the man stepped into view. He really should have known who it was from the voice, not to mention the fact that there was only one other person who knew the way to Avalanche's hideout.

"What are you doing here, Reeves?" He asked as the newcomer made his way over to him.

"Just thought I'd stop by and advise you on the situation." The man said, his brown eyes looking over the map with Barret. As a member of the Imperial government, Reeves wore a white suit complimented by a blue shirt and tie. He was relatively scrawny looking, thin by almost any comparison, but a man in his position didn't need brawn. As he inspected the map, he ran a hand over the thin, black goatee on his face that didn't seem to go all that well with his slicked back, neck length hair.

"We already know about Rufus being out of town." Barret said to his longtime contact within the Empire. "It was on the caster news, you know."

"Yes, but that target is far too unimportant." Reeves said, nodding to the place Barret had been looking to attack. "Given the unusual circumstances, I think you should put your attention here."

Reeves placed a finger on a certain spot on the map and Barret's eyes narrowed as memories flooded back to him.

"You think that's safe? It's one of the biggest facilities in the Empire."

"I'm sure you, of all people, can manage." Reeves said, a smirk crossing his features as he patted Barret on his gloved arm. "Besides, you've wanted this for a long time, and this may be the only chance you ever have. You'd never be able to pull off something like this with Rufus in the city."

"Hell no, we wouldn't." Barret grimaced, weighing the possibilities in his head before reluctantly nodding. "Alright. They've had it comin' from me for a long time. It's about time I gave 'em a lil' payback."

"Good, now I have to be going before some one notices my absence and starts looking for me." Reeves smiled as he turned and began walking back out. "If I were you, I'd hurry. This could be the biggest accomplishment you've managed in a long time, and I'm sure it'd go a long way towards helping out the cause."

Barret said nothing as Reeves left. Once he was alone again he looked back to the map and to the target the well dressed man had pointed out; Branch Seven of the Magic and Technology Research Center, located in Sector Seven of Midgar. Without a word he slammed his gloved fist onto the target on the map, and as he did so a strange field of multicolored energy bursting around his hand that burned a hole in the map and scorched the wall beyond.

* * *

As bad luck would have it, the rising of the moon had brought with it a torrential downpour of rain. Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky above the city of Midgar as Cloud and Zach rode down the muddy, cobblestone streets on the backs of a pair of pale yellow chocobos; a species of large, non-flying birds that were commonly used for transportation. The two soldiers wore heavy black cloaks over their bodies and head to keep the sheets of falling water off of them. They had a seven hour journey ahead of them and they weren't about to be soaking wet the entire way. 

"How lame is this?" Zach yelled out over the distant thunder so that his voice could be heard, "It just had to start raining like the world was going to end tonight, didn't it?"

"Course it did," Cloud shouted in response. "Wouldn't be fitting if we had a pleasant trip, would it?"

"Guess not!" Zach grinned as he took an unexpected shot at his friend, "Bet it'd be much nicer in Tifa's room right now!"

"Zach!" Cloud growled, "Why do I consider you a friend? Shut up about her!"

"God, man!" Zach laughed as he pulled his chocobo near Clouds so he could reach out and smack the other on the back of his head, "You keep avoiding talking about her and I'm going to start thinking you're gay!"

"Oh please," the blond rolled his eyes. "I'm more popular with the ladies than you'll ever be!"

"You know, you're right! Guess that just makes you a whore instead!"

"You're such a prick!"

"Wouldn't have it any other way, buddy!"

The both of them had a good laugh at their own immaturity; they were always amazed at how they could make the same jokes over and over and never get tired of them. If nothing else, it gave them something to do when they were bored. Still smiling, Cloud tugged the reigns of his bird and started over a bridge that he had always insisted was a short cut to the Sector Seven entry and exit gates. Zach sighed, knowing full well that this way was no faster than the main roads, but he followed anyway.

Their childish conversation continued anew as their rides trotted down the heavy wooden boards. Zach gave another comment that made Cloud reel, and to emphasize that he'd been hit below the belt, he pulled his chocobo to the left, making it seem as if they were falling over. The bird warked, and Cloud straightened it out just along the railing that overlooked a lower level of the city. The blond soldier began to pull back to where his friend was riding when something down on the street below caught his eye. Bringing his bird to a stop, Cloud peered over the edge of the bridge and squinted in the darkness, now realizing that he was seeing several people running out of an alley below and onto the main road beneath the bridge. What he was witnessing wasn't strange, it was no shock to see people running in and out of cover during a storm this heavy, but something about them made him ride to the other side of the bridge, pull out his binoculars, and watch for them again as they ran beneath.

Confused at his friend's behavior, Zach rode up along side of him and squinted down at the running individuals as well. "What's up?"

Cloud didn't respond, his eyes fixated on the group as they ran beneath the sign of a store, the light illuminating them for an instance. One of the four people stopped long enough to wave his hand to the others as if he was telling them to hurry, the light from the sign bathed him and Cloud's eyes went wide.

"Oh my god!" Cloud instantly turned his bird and sent it racing down the bridge, as he watched the direction the runners were headed from over his shoulder.

A moment later Zach caught up to him on his chocobo and shook his head in confusion, "What the hell are you doing man?"

"Didn't you see that guy?" Cloud shouted over a thunderclap in the sky.

"No," Zach said, shaking his head. "I wasn't trying to spy on them like you were! Just some people trying to get out of the rain!"

"No they weren't!" Cloud ground his teeth as he raced faster, turning off of the bridge and heading south as fast as he could. "The big one, that was Barret Wallace!"

"What?" Zach exclaimed in disbelief, "No way! You have to be imagining it!"

"I wasn't! I swear, that was him, and they were heading in the direction of the Magic and Technology Research Division!"

"Holy ----," the other breathed. "You're right; Branch Seven is just a few blocks that way!"

"I know! Look, even if I'm wrong, I have to check it out!"

Zach nodded, fully understanding now. Even if the man Cloud had seen wasn't the notorious terrorist, it had to be investigated. There would be far too much at stake if he was right to simply ignore it, "I'm with you man, lets go after them!"

Through the streets they raced, the claws of their chocobos splashing water and mud up behind them. The entrance to the research center was on the level below them, causing it to take them longer than they'd hoped to reach it. As they galloped to the front of the building it was obvious that the main doors hadn't been tampered with.

"Maybe we beat them here?" Zach offered hopefully.

Clouds head shook beneath his hooded rain cloak. "They were already on this level, even on foot they'd get here first! Let's check around, maybe they went in another way."

Circling the large structure, it became clear that Cloud's suspicion was right; on the west wing of the building a loading door hung open, its lock blown apart by some sort of small explosive. The soldiers dismounted their chocobos and tied them to a pipe nearby. Grabbing their swords, they quietly entered the broken door, finding themselves among a maze of wooden crates stacked ten to fifteen feet high in most cases. Zach crouched down next to the body of a security guard who lay slumped against one box, starting to check his pulse only to find that the mans neck had been snapped. Setting his jaw firm, he stood back up as the two of them silently crept down the rows, using hand signals to communicate as the rain water dripped from their cloaks.

It became apparent that Avalanche had not stayed in this area; other than the guard, nothing here had been tampered with. Cloud was the first to notice wet footprints aimed at a set of metal stairs that ended with a door that was slightly ajar. Nodding to one another, they took the stairs and slowly stepped through the door into a dimly lit hallway. Cloud's glowing eyes gave his face a soft blue tone as they crept along through the darkness, looking to the hallway doors to see if they could find which one the terrorists might have gone through. When they found one that was hanging just slightly open, they glanced to each other with worry on their faces; it was marked with a blue and red "restricted" sign. Without giving their minds time to consider it, they went through; the threat that Avalanche posed was more important than getting chewed out for being in top secret areas of the center.

Cloud and Zach found themselves in another hallway with observation windows further down; below them they could hear voices and the sounds of machinery. Zach signaled left and they started down the hall towards the first window, Cloud crouched beneath it and went to the other side, and then they both leaned slightly and looked through from each side into a vast room below them. They expected to find Barret and his group setting up a bomb, but that was not at all what they witnessed. Avalanche was nowhere to be seen; instead they found themselves looking down at some sort of testing facility. Pipes and wires connected massive machines that were humming loudly; there were men and women in black clothing walking from machine to machine inspecting large blue tubes that seemed to have something inside of them. They looked to each other in confusion over what they were seeing, but it was Zach who made the first conclusion. Pointing to one of the tubes that a man was disconnecting, they watched as multi-colored liquid spewed out for an instance before it was reattached elsewhere.

"Was that what I think it was?" Zach whispered.

"Processed mako," Cloud said in confusion; his mind racing, trying to figure out what he was witnessing.

Discovered decades ago, mako was a magical energy source that came up from the planet in various regions. Over time, mako naturally crystallized into materia stones. These stones could be harnessed for their raw power, but were also used for magic; those not gifted with magic at birth could obtain certain spells when equipped with materia. Although the crystallization of materia from the natural, wispy vapor form of mako could take anywhere from twenty to one hundred years, Shinra scientists had long ago discovered a way to speed up the development of the stones. By turning the mako vapors into a liquid form, known as processed mako, they could then force the crystallization of materia. While materia obtained from processed mako was weaker than its natural counterpart, it took mere months to create rather than decades.

"What are they doing with the stuff?" Cloud wondered aloud. "What's the use in processed mako if they aren't turning it into materia?"

"Who cares?" Zach exclaimed a bit too loudly; luckily the noise from the facility seemed to have kept him from being heard. "We have to find Avalanche before they blow this building sky high!"

"I know!" Cloud's face betrayed his emotions; for some reason what he was seeing seemed eerily familiar to him even though he was certain he'd never seen anything like it before. With this unexplainable recognition, he suddenly felt as if he had to know what was going on. "Look, they're sticking it in those big tubes. Let's see if we can get a better look at what's in them."

"Fine, if that'll get you to move, then let's check fast and get going!" Zach nodded and pointed to another window further down the hallway that was closer to one of the rows of tubes.

Slowly they crept along, crouching low when they passed the windows to minimize the chance of being seen. When they reached the specified pane of glass, they peeked over the edge and down into the room, finding that they were less than ten feet above one of the tubes now. From here they could see down into the liquid filled container, their eyes going wide as they gazed upon a humanoid creature within it. Small tubes and hoses were connected to the creatures grey, blue, and red body, feeding processed mako directly into its flesh. As they watched in horror, the monstrosity thrashed within its glass prison, the long tendrils of flesh coming from its head swinging wildly as its brightly glowing, red eyes widened and it roared, the sound muted by the fluids it floated in.

Zach backed away immediately, pressing his spine to the wall behind him. Avalanche currently forgotten with this sudden and unbelievable discovery, he looked to Cloud with his eyes filled with terror. "That can't be what I think it is!"

Shaking his head, Cloud could think of no response to his friends observation; his mind was in a state of horrible shock that had silenced him completely. Even after five years of Imperial service and countless encounters with monsters, there was only one thing that even remotely resembled the creature he saw in that tank; a demon. Cloud himself had only seen one once. After the demons began appearing twelve years ago, the Divine Emperor, in an attempt to protect his people from such evils, began sending task forces to destroy them whenever they surfaced. Nearly two years ago, Cloud had been on such a mission, and helped kill one of the powerful demonic beasts; he was also one of the few who had returned from that bitter-sweet victory. Whoever these people were, they were pumping mako into some sort of demons within a building of the _Holy_ Shinra Empire; it was utterly unthinkable.

"Emperor Rufus," Cloud whispered as the only possible explanation for this heinous sight came to him. "He left today; they must be trying to do something while he's away so he won't catch them."

"They couldn't set all this up in one day, man!"

"Well what else do you want me to say?" Cloud hissed. "We have to get out of here and tell some one, the Divine Emperor has to be warned about this!"

Just as Cloud finished speaking, commotion erupted on the facility floor, his eyes darted to where one of the men was pointing and yelling in their direction. He realized that that they'd been spotted as he watched one of the women point a device with a large, blue crystalline sphere in the center of it at them. A caster sphere; their presence in this restricted area had now been recorded, but that was the last thing on Cloud's mind.

"----!" He exclaimed as he saw one of the men race to a tube and open it. Zach stood back up and looked out the window with him as liquid rushed out of the container and the demon within it lunged from the machine, the mako tubes ripping from its body as it landed on the floor. The man who had freed it pointed to Cloud again and the monster began running towards them.

"----!" Cloud yelled again, this time much louder. Grabbing Zach's arm, he pulled his friend away from the window and they both began running back the way they'd come. Behind them they could hear the shattering of glass as the demon leapt up from the lower level and crashed through the window they had stood at as if it had taken no effort at all. As they darted back out of the restricted section their impressive skills and cockiness were forgotten. Being chased by a demon being enhanced inside of a building they were sworn to protect caused them to feel just as scared as rookies again.

* * *

A loud click and a beep signified the beginning of the end of the Sector Seven Magic and Technology Research Center. Within ten minutes two small materia orbs would collide, resulting in an explosion that would trigger the highly flammable liquids and solids inside of the small box. In ten minutes, this bomb, which Jessie had scribbled a middle finger on, would explode just beneath the central pillars of the building and bring the entire structure down. There would be no survivors; not the demons in their tubes, nor the deranged scientists who were working on them. Everything here would be lost in a fiery blast that would shake the very foundations of Sector Seven and leave nothing but ash and wreckage in its wake. 

The first step of their mission completed, the four members of Avalanche went onto the second; getting the hell out of here before they became a part of the fireworks. Barret and his trio ran back to the stairs that had brought them down, passing the bodies of a pair of guards from earlier who'd been too curious for their own good. They had just entered the hallway to the storage area when they heard a loud crash somewhere nearby. Stopping dead in his tracks, Barret watched as the door to the experimentation chamber that he'd peeked in earlier was thrown open and two young men dressed in elite Shinra Special Ops uniforms bolted out. For a split second Barret readied to fight them, but the soldiers didn't even see them; instead they hurried down the hallway away from them towards the same exit Avalanche was heading for.

"What the-" his thoughts were cut off as the answer to it all became very clear when one of the mako enhanced demons flew out of the door and lay chase after the two soldiers.

"One of them got out!" Biggs helpfully pointed out.

Wasting no time, Barret took off after the beast at a full run, "Come on, we gotta help them!"

"Why?" Jessie exclaimed as she fell in place behind him. "They're Imperial soldiers!"

"I don't care! That thing is chasing them, I doubt that means they're on this center's list of friends!"

Ahead of them, the soldiers fled into the storage area and nearly fell down the steps in their rush. The demon gained on them and grabbed the black haired youth by his arm, tackling him to the ground. Barret leapt down the stairs as the demon raised its clawed hand to strike the terrified boy, but its attack never came. Darting towards it the moment his feet were back on the ground, Barret wound back his black gloved hand and slammed it into the demon's jaw. For a moment it only reeled as it would from any hit, but then a strange greenish shockwave seemed to ripple through the air between Barret's fist and its face and the beast was sent flying. The smell of burning flesh and blood flooded the air as the demon flew straight through four stacks of crates until it finally came to a stop as the wooden boxes toppled down, crushing it to a lifeless pulp.

Barret began to turn to the black haired soldier when the blond one jumped in front of him, sword in hand. For a moment he paused completely, staring at the young soldier's eyes that glowed in a strange fashion. Then, remembering the situation they were in, the Avalanche leader put that out of his mind and shook his head, "Put it down boy, it's not worth it."

"You're Barret Wallace!" the soldier yelled. "You're a criminal; a terrorist!"

"And he just saved your life, jackass!" Jessie shouted angrily as her and the others lined up beside their boss in his defense.

The furious looking soldier started to respond with something cocky, but broke off to look back to his friend, who had just stood up and was rubbing at his arm where the demon had grabbed him earlier.

"Look, boy," Barret growled. "We have to get out of here, now! This place is going down any minute now!"

That spark renewed in the blond's glowing eyes and his sword rose higher as he stared Barret down. "Stop calling me 'boy'! I'm a member of Special Ops, and if you don't tell me where your bomb is I swear I'll cut you down here and now!"

Despite the urgency of the situation, Barret was impressed. The boy was obviously tougher than he looked. "You got heart, kid, but your title and experience don't mean anything to me. Do you really want to let the things you must have saw back there go on? If you really care about this Empire then you don't want those crazy fools and their little pets living another minute!"

"Don't talk down to us, you damn criminal!" The black haired youth angrily chimed in. "What about the others who work here? They may be innocent of all of this! We'll bring the army into this, and then none of them have to die!"

"You talk big, but you don't know ----!" Barret barked, "I'm sorry if you're too naive to understand, but your army can't do a thing to them because your whole Empire is corrupt! This is the only way to do it, and if innocents die in the process then that's a shame, but it's an acceptable loss! Innocent blood is spilt all the time in your war with Wutai, but that's okay because they don't believe in Rufus, right? Don't you dare be so holy with me when you're a part of that!"

Neither of the soldiers responded to him this time, his words had probably hit the one thing they had been trying to avoid thinking about; that what they had seen was authorized by the Empire and not just a band of rogue mad scientists. They were most likely too confused by all of this to think clearly. Barret could sympathize; he remembered when he'd been in that same position. He knew what it was like to see things that were impossible to explain without questioning everything he knew about the Empire, but he was brought back to the present as Jessie grabbed his arm.

"Boss, we have to go. _Now_."

Nodding, Barret looked back to the confused young soldiers, "We don't have time for this. If you want to stay and try to save those sorry bastards, then be my guest, but I promise that you won't be able to, and I know they aren't worth losing your lives over. Me and my pals aren't planning on dying here, so we're getting out."

Walking past them, Barret closed his eyes and titled his head down, his brows furrowing as painful memories flooded through his head. The two soldiers just stood there in a mixture of fear and anger as they watched Avalanche go by. Their trust in everything they'd ever known had been shaken by something they should have never seen and he remembered exactly how that felt. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge followed him as he quickly headed for the broken door that they'd first entered, none of them were quite as concerned about the young Imperial soldiers; they were the enemy, after all. As they left the building and started running for cover, a small, bitter sweet smile touched his lips as he saw the soldiers follow them out and begin running along behind them.

* * *

The strange mixture of soldiers and wanted criminals ran as fast as their legs could carry them, ducked into an alley and covered their ears as the young girl yelled that it was time. Not far behind them there was an explosive sound that ripped through the rainy night sky and shook the ground all around them; dirt and mud rained down from the walls as Sector Seven was rocked. Relatively safe at this distance, and behind the cover of the stone walls that they were between, they waited out the destruction. The three story, five city block complex collapsed in on itself, a pillar of fire erupting from the center and shooting high into the sky, illuminating miles of the city of Midgar in orange and red light. Several minutes later, as the ruination of the research building began to quiet down and people ran outside of their homes in shock to see what had transpired, Cloud and Zach looked to each other, trying unsuccessfully to figure out what they were going to do. 

"Why were you in there?" Barret Wallace, the most wanted man in the city of Midgar and the man who had just simultaneously saved their lives and destroyed part of the Empire they were sworn to protect, straightened himself up and looked to the two of them. "Why'd you decide to go sight seeing in a restricted area?"

Zach curled his lips, shaking his head in anger at the mans nerve. "We were following you! We saw you and knew you were going to go and blow something up again, and we were going to stop you!"

"Trying to be heroes, huh?" the girl behind Barret added spitefully. "Did a hell of a job."

"Stop it, Jessie." Barret said to her before Cloud or Zach could retaliate. The terrorist leader looked at them with pity on his face. "When they saw you in there, what happened?"

"One of them aimed a caster at us," Cloud said in an agitated tone, wondering even as he spoke why he was cooperating with this despicable man, "and then they let that thing out to chase us."

"The caster was probably linked directly to the Turks." He looked back up at them, and despite their anger they could see genuine sympathy in his eyes. "You're marked now. You've seen too much. They'll be here any minute to track you down and kill you."

Cloud's eyes narrowed as he shook his head, "You expect us to buy this conspiracy theory crap? The Turks work for the betterment of the Empire; if they're coming then I can't wait till they get here so I can tell them what I saw!"

"I'm sorry, but you don't understand. I was just like you one time; young and naive, thinking that evil was something that happened in other places, not in this Empire. I was wrong, and so are you. They're coming for you right now, and they won't rest until you're dead."

Suddenly realizing what he was getting at, Jessie interrupted, "Wait a minute, boss! You're not thinking-"

"Shut up, Jessie." Barret quietly said as he kept his eyes on the two of them. "Look, you have to make a choice. I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, but your lives as you knew them are over, here and now. You have two options, and neither one is all that fun. You can go back to being good little Imperials and try to tell your higher ups about what you saw in there before the Turks catch you and silence you. Or you can come with us; you can hear our side of the story, find out all the little things they don't want you to know, and then make a decision once you've heard the truth. Either way, everything you knew when you woke up this morning is ----ed and gone; at least if you go with us, you'll have a fighting chance."

Cloud and Zach looked at each other in confusion while their minds raced; all of this was happening too fast. Still, they were members of the Imperial Army. No matter what doubts they had right now, they knew they couldn't just go with Avalanche; they'd be considered criminals. Zach started to tell Barret to take his conspiracy theory and shove it; he and Cloud would go back to their station and tell all of this to Lieutenant General Zahn, and he'd straighten it all out. Then, from somewhere above them, a sound rang out, and a small chunk of the wall next to Zach's head exploded. Chips of stone flew out from the initial blast and the fresh hole in the wall was burnt black.

"Turks!" Barret shouted, knowing that the strange burnt hole in the wall was the result of the unique, magic firing weapons called guns that only members of the Intelligence Agency carried with them. He reached out and grabbed Cloud and Zach by their cloaks, pulling them further into the alley as the entire group started running. Zach ducked his head low as several more loud pings were heard and more magic rounds crashed into the walls around them.

Cloud looked behind him in shock and saw a man at the entrance to the alley wearing the signature blue suit, white shirt, and black tie of the Turks, just before they rounded a corner. There were only two reasons the Turks would be shooting at them; either they thought that he and Zach were helping Avalanche, or Barret was telling the truth. Neither of those thoughts were very appealing. From ahead of him, Jessie pulled something out of her belt and tossed it back towards the Turk as Barret began prying open a manhole cover and ushering everyone down into the cities sewage system. There was a loud boom that shook the alley, nearly covering up the spew of expletives from the Turk who had apparently avoided being hit by the grenade. The walls of the alley began to crash down, stopping the gunman from following them as Zach hesitated for a few seconds before he jumped down into the manhole.

Cloud stood there, probably thinking the same thing Zach just had. His mind was telling him not to go down, but he knew that right now he had no other option; the Turks wouldn't give him time to explain now that he'd been seen with Avalanche. All he could do for now was run with them and try to figure out what to do later, so he went down the ladder, followed by Barret who closed the lid back overtop of them. Biggs chanted a spell, a light appearing in his hand as he began leading them all down the murky waters. The Turks had made Cloud and Zach's choice for them; for now, they were with Avalanche.

* * *

Tifa had been sleeping when it happened. As she lay there in her bed, curled up in a black night gown, dreaming of friends and family who were long gone, the Seventh Heaven bar shook and the night sky outside of her window became as bright as the day. Reflexes kicking in, she leapt up and onto the ground, her muscled but still slender arms moving up into a combat stance as she tried to blink her sleepiness away. It took her a few seconds to realize that no one was there, and that whatever was going on was happening outside. Rushing to her window, she looked out over Midgar Sector Seven; in the distance she could see a pillar of fire blazing up into the air between her bar and the city gates. She found herself terrified, knowing full well that the explosion must have been gigantic to be seen at this distance; she had never heard of any accident that large in Sector Seven, especially not so close to her home. 

Racing out of her tiny bedroom, she headed downstairs and into the darkness of the bar. As her eyes began to adjust she was able to find the glass tube set into a wooden box that was her caster receiver. As her fingertips danced over the controls, the tube burst to life, lighting up the bar in pale blue, but there were no images being displayed; whatever had happened, the Caster News Network hadn't yet reported on it. Sitting down on a bar stool, she found herself worrying without reason about Cloud and Zach; they would have been heading that way to leave, but they would have been out of the city by now, certainly no where near whatever had caused that explosion. She decided to stay there and watch for a little longer to see if anything came on the receiver, but it wasn't long before she'd dozed off, her head laying on the smooth surface of the bar.

Nearly an hour later, a loud knocking came on the bars doors. Startled awake, her head jerked up as she blinked burgundy eyes and looked around, realizing that it was still dark. Confused as to what anyone would be doing here in the middle of the night, she walked to the front of the room and looked out the window to see four men in blue suits standing on her porch. Recognizing the uniforms, she opened the door, now fearing that something had in fact happened to her two friends.

Confirming her suspicions about their identities, the one who'd been knocking held up an ID tag to her as she looked them over.

"My name is Marx," said the man, who had slicked back, black hair, thin glasses and a scar beneath his left eye. "We are members of the Turks Intelligence Agency. Are you Tifa Lockheart?"

Nodding slowly, her heart filling with a sense of dread Tifa quietly responded. "Yes. What's this about?"

Marx placed his ID into a pocket on his suit coat before folding his hands below his torso, "Miss Lockheart, are you an acquaintance of two men by the names of Zach Bran and Cloud Strife?"

Tifa's fingertips dug into the wall that she was leaning against, her eyes widening with worry. "Yes, I am. Has something happened to them?"

Marx nodded to his fellow agents and two of them pushed past Tifa and surrounded her. She looked around at them, her worry dulled by confusion at their actions.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Miss Lockheart," Marx continued. "I am placing you under arrest pending an investigation into your relationship with former members of the Imperial Army, Bran and Strife, who were recorded by a caster in a restricted area of the Sector Seven Magic and Technology Research Center minutes before it was destroyed."

"What!" Tifa exclaimed in shock as the two Turks behind her grasped her arms and began placing a pair of binds on her wrists.

"After the explosion, your friends were seen with the terrorist organization Avalanche, and we believe they aided in infiltrating and destroying the center. As you appear to be their closest friend, it is likely that you are also involved with Avalanche. You will be taken to the Sector Seven Prison Complex and interrogated. It would be in your best interest to cooperate as it may reduce your possible sentence to something less severe for those who commit treason against the Holy Shinra Empire."

Staring at the Turk in shock, Tifa said nothing. As they began leading her away from her home and business to a prisoner transport they had brought with them, all she could hope for was that they had made some terrible mistake and it would all be straightened out. Cloud and Zach couldn't be terrorists, they just couldn't be.


	2. Chapter II Bed of Lies

**Author's Notes **

**-------------------- **

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

My homepage has been updated with the first two pieces of AR artwork since last week, be sure to check it out if you enjoy the story!

Check back on November 11th for Chapter III.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review, and I'll address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter II

Bed of Lies

Several hours of sledging through the murky waters of Midgar's massive sewage system made it painfully obvious how large the city was and could dampen anyone's spirit. To Cloud and Zach, this was just one more in a series of bad turns that this night had become. They had been led in a completely nonsensical trail in order to confound any pursuers they might have, and Cloud was fairly certain it was also meant to confuse him and Zach. It worked well; by the time they had made their way through a grate, down a ladder and into a tunnel that finally brought them to the series of caves that Avalanche operated out of, he was completely lost. There was no way of telling where beneath Midgar they were at, but that still didn't seem to be good enough for the terrorists. With the exception of Barret, the members of Avalanche watched him and Zach as if _they_ were the criminals. Even once they were situated in what was clearly their lounging room, no one sat down, all eyes were staring with contempt at the two Imperials; the distrust in the air was nearly thick enough to touch.

Zach was the first to speak, his voice surprisingly calm, considering what they'd been through so far tonight. "Okay, so we're here now whether we wanted to be or not. We might as well hear what you have to say."

"You're not gonna like it." Barret solemnly said.

"We just saw demons in an Imperial building, got shot at by Turks, and are in the hideout of the most wanted people in Midgar!" Cloud snapped. "We already don't like this, so just talk!"

"Alright, fine." Barret nodded. "What you've heard about us, that we're traitors and heretics, isn't completely true. Like you guys, we all trusted Shinra once, but all of us wound up like this by learning things we weren't supposed to."

Walking to a small cooler, Barret pulled a can of beer out of it and popped it open. After a short drink, he continued. "These guys," he said, referring to his three team mates. "They saw ---- go down. Me? I was the ---- that went down. I was a cop, a lieutenant at Corel, my hometown."

"Corel?" Zach asked, his brows furrowing. "That was the first place that the demons appeared on our world."

"Yeah, but that's only half the real story. The area around Corel was always rich with mako since long before I was even born, so the Empire decided to build a center there to use it in tests for new technology. The people of Corel weren't happy about it; we weren't all that religious like the Empire wanted its citizens to be, and the facility Shinra built was interfering with our coal mining operations, which just made things worse."

Barret's eyebrows creased as the painful memories began to surface in him. "Over the next couple of years everyone in Corel became disgruntled and resentful of the Empire. Protests were mounting, and things were going downhill fast. Then one night the demons attacked, but they didn't come from the stars or some evil portal to hell; they came out of the Shinra facility."

"Like what we saw tonight?" Cloud asked skeptically.

"Yeah, but they weren't as advanced as the ones here. They killed hundreds in the city. Me and my buddy Dyne led the police force and tried to fight them, but it didn't do much good. Eventually we gathered up all the civilians we could find and went into hiding in the mines.

"While we were down there, something happened on the surface. It sounded strange, almost like a tidal wave. When we came up later to see what had happened, the whole region had been turned into a wasteland. The demons were gone, and there were Turks searching the area." His mouth set in a hard frown, his face contorting from anger and sadness. "Still remember it like it was yesterday. We went out to meet them, thinking they were there to help, but we were wrong. Except for me and Dyne, the rest of the survivors were civilians, women and kids mostly. The Turks lined them up and mowed them all down, every last one of them. Us, they kept alive. Don't know why, maybe just because we were cops, but they brought us here, to that same building we just blew sky high.

"Two years they kept us there." Taking another drink, he sighed, not enjoying talking about this but knowing that he had to if he wanted to make them understand. "Doing things to us that I don't like to remember."

"Is that what happened to your arm?" Zach asked a bit timidly. "I noticed the way it's gloved, and that hit you threw into that demon in Branch Seven was way to strong to be a regular punch."

"Yeah, you got it." Barret nodded, rubbing at his gloved arm as the painful memories tormented him. "I don't really know the specifics or anything. The glove's made of a special material they developed that helps me keep it in check. Without it on, my arm becomes an uncontrollable and unpredictable weapon."

"Right, that sounds perfectly feasible." Cloud mumbled beneath his breath as he rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, Dyne escaped one night and caused a bunch of trouble." Barret ignored Cloud's sarcasm and continued in a quieter voice. "He busted me out and we tried to get out of the center, but they caught up with us. Dyne...he turned around and used what they'd done to him to fight them back so I could escape. I didn't want to, but he promised that he'd be right behind me, so I went. I never saw him again.

"After I got out I did some research and found out that a few people from Corel who didn't know the demons had come out of Shinra's facility had survived. Those survivors spread stories about how the demons had turned the region into a wasteland. The Empire used those stories to spread fear about the demons, and that's when Rufus vowed to stop them from doing it again, so instead of being in league with them, the Empire became the knights in shining armor that were slaying them.

"The four of us found each other a couple years later." Barret motioned to his Avalanche team. "We'd all learned some of the Empires dirty little secrets and had managed to live to tell about it. There are probably others out there who know things, a few people are always gonna fall through the cracks, but who's gonna believe them? The Empires marked us as the bad guys, and everyone trusts the Empire. One of the reasons we started Avalanche was so we could fight back, and try to get this junk to the public. It hasn't really worked so well so far, but we'll keep going."

Cloud didn't buy it; Barret may have been an incredible actor to be able to pull off emotions that real, but there was no way that could all be true. "Do you really expect us to believe that the Holy Shinra Empire is corrupted? That they're allying with demons just to get rid of people who don't share their views? That's just absurd."

"You saw them in Branch Seven with your own eyes and they tried to kill you for it," Jessie responded with disbelief in her voice. "How can you just shrug his story off after that?"

"Because," Cloud growled. "I have faith! I was born and raised in this Empire; I've been in the Army for five years! I've seen Emperor Rufus speak! He preaches about peace and unity; he came to save the world! There's no way I can believe that this is going on in his Empire without his knowledge!"

"I don't know, Cloud" Zach quietly said, his voice shaking. "She's right. We saw it ourselves, and the Turks tried to kill us just like Barret said."

"They tried to kill us because they thought we were with them!" Cloud shouted, staring at his friend in shock at what he was hearing. "Don't tell me you're actually buying this!"

"I said I don't know," Zach sighed. "It sure would explain a lot of it, though."

"How can you say that! You know Rufus would have found out if this stuff was as widespread as they're saying, and he'd have put an end to it a long time ago!"

"Tch," Biggs scoffed. "Not if he's the one doing it all."

Before anyone could stop him, Cloud's sword was unsheathed and he ran at the green clad terrorist, his logic blinded by his anger. The Divine Emperor was the savior of the world; Cloud wasn't about to let some one say such things about Rufus without losing a limb or two.

Moving faster than Cloud could have possibly imagined, Barret headed him off, his gloved palm slamming against the flat side of the sword and driving it into the wall. As Cloud readied to twist it and cut the large man's hand off, a burst of multi-colored energy erupted from Barret's gloved arm and jolted through the blade, making it burning hot. Even through his gauntleted hand, Cloud could feel the heat rising and singeing his glove. With a yelp, he let go of the weapon and backed off as Barret stepped away and let it fall to the ground.

"I know you're pissed." Barret said coldly. "I know you don't want to believe what we're saying, and I know how hard it is to even try and come to grips with it. I want to help you, but I'm not gonna have you hurting one of my friends, and if I have to beat your skinny ass I will."

"Settle down, Cloud." Zach said as he walked over and helped him stand. "Let's just sit for a while and try to clear our minds, alright?"

"Why?" Cloud said, glaring at his friend. "Is that going to make any of this go away? Is that going to make me feel any more comfortable about being in a room full of damned heretics?"

"No." Zach said, the sorrow in his eyes telling Cloud that he understood what he was feeling. "But I can't just dismiss what they've said that easily. It's too much; we need to think about it before we start making rash decisions."

Cloud pushed away from his friend and stepped to the couch where he slumped down. "You're questioning your faith in Rufus. You've already made a rash decision, Zach."

"Maybe so," Zach said as he sat down next to him. Trying to lighten the unfathomably dark situation, Zach added, "You always were the more sensible one, you know."

Cloud merely crossed his arms and sat there with an intense look of discomfort on his face; apparently, he hadn't found it very funny.

With the crisis temporarily averted, Barret nodded his head towards Wedge. "Why don't you go cook us up something to eat? Take our minds off things."

"Yeah, sure boss." The chubby man said, staring at Cloud as he walked out of the room.

Seemingly unfazed by having his life in danger just moments prior, Biggs walked to their receiver and turned it on to see if there'd been any news of their triumph yet. As he walked back and sat down on the arm of the chair that Jessie was once again occupying, the image of another reporter flickered onto the wall.

"-has been no official statement made about the attack yet, but disaster crews at the scene say that it seems consistent with other attacks made recently by the terrorist organization, Avalanche."

"Damn right, it does," Jessie sneered.

"Early reports indicate that there were very few casualties," the reporter continued. "Again, for those just joining us, we were informed by the Turks Intelligence Agency that two Shinra Imperial Soldiers were witnessed fleeing from the scene."

"Great!" Cloud suddenly snapped, only to be shushed by Zach as the report went on.

"While their identities have not been divulged at this time, we have learned that a woman suspected of being involved with the two soldiers, and possibly Avalanche itself, has been taken into custody. She has been charged with treason and is being held for interrogation."

"Oh my god!" Zach gasped, an icy chill rushing over him as he quickly realized who they were talking about. "Tifa!"

"Who's Tifa?" Barret asked.

That flash of anger returning, Cloud jumped up and ran towards Barret, but Zach grabbed him just before he could strike the older man.

"She's our friend, you bastard!" Cloud spat out. "Because of your crazy, personal war against the Empire, they think she's a traitor!"

Despite her distrust for the two soldiers, Jessie instantly shot a look to Barret, whose face was filled with dread. "Boss, we have to - I mean, we can't just let some girl take the fall for what we've done!"

"I know, Jessie." Barret quietly said, shaking his head. "They'll execute her if they think she's involved with us."

"Oh, so now you care!" Cloud yelled as his eyes began to well up with tears of worry and hate. "So what? Going to go play hero now after pissing all over us for the same thing? You're a hypocrite!"

"Yeah, that's right." The Avalanche leader said evenly. "I don't care what you think of us, I ain't letting some girl get the axe for our actions. Are you two coming?"

"We don't have a choice in the matter." Zach said evenly. "They think we're with you, so we can't reason with them, and I'm not about to just let Tifa die."

"I guess you got your wish." Cloud hissed as he jerked his arm free of Zach's hold and glared at Barret. "Now we're going against the Empire too."

* * *

Dawn had come by the time Avalanche and the unfortunate soldiers with them arrived near the Sector Seven Prison Complex. Red and pink hues cast down through the clouds above to create a beautiful display in the sky over the capital of the Holy Shinra Empire. They had left Wedge with a transport a few blocks away just in case they needed a fast getaway when they came back. With the exception of Zach, the rest of them now stood behind a dumpster, surveying the complex. Unlike Branch Seven, this was a military installation, and that meant Cloud and Zach were the experts here. During their time in Special Ops, they'd learned how to sneak into criminal hideouts and take down every person there without being seen. Granted, they'd never tackled something quite as large as this, especially not with highly trained Imperial soldiers inside, but with the knowledge that Tifa was being held here, they viewed it as just one more problem to take care of. 

Barret had agreed to let them lead for now, so Cloud found himself crouching ahead of the rest; his eyes darting across the building as he awaited his cue. A glimmer of light caught in the corner of his eye and he turned his head to see Zach flashing a small mirror at him from several hundred feet away.

"Zach's finished checking out the possible entrances." He said as he recognized the signals pattern and pointed to a door guarded by two soldiers near the rear of the facility, "We're going with that one, it opens up into the laundry room. There shouldn't be many soldiers stationed in there at this time of day."

"Well what about the ones standing outside, how are we supposed to get past them?" Barret asked.

Cloud looked over his shoulder, annoyance plastered on his face. "That's easy."

Without explaining what he meant, he lowered his head and placed his hands overtop one another. With his eyes closed, the glowing from behind his lids increased as he quietly muttered, "All light, fall into darkness."

Finishing the incantation, Cloud thrust his hands forward, palms out towards the two guards outside of the laundry room; though nothing could be seen, the guards all seemed to jump to attention a moment later as if they'd been struck by something. Grey magic was an offshoot of white, so he was able to use a few of its spells. Normally, he would have a sense of pride at managing to get one to cast so well, but he wasn't very thrilled about assaulting Imperial soldiers. Looking back to where Zach had been, Cloud spotted him racing across the prison grounds, not even trying to hide behind anything as he headed straight towards the two guards.

"What is he doing!" Jessie gasped. "He's gone nuts!"

"No, he hasn't." Biggs said as he realized what Cloud had done a moment earlier.

As they all watched, Zach ran right up in front of the guards, neither of whom seemed to notice him at all. All it took was a few well placed punches and smacks from the flat of his Buster Sword, and the two guards were lying in an unconscious heap. Zach bent down to remove a key from one of their pockets and signaled the others as he unlocked the door.

"Brilliant," Biggs said, obviously impressed.

Unresponsive, Cloud darted out from behind their cover and towards his friend; Avalanche quickly followed as Jessie tried to figure out what she'd just seen. "What did they do, Biggs?"

"Blind." Biggs said as they raced towards the laundry room door. "When cast correctly, it stops your opponents from seeing any approaching threats for a few moments."

"Zach was invisible to them?" Jessie questioned.

"Basically, yeah." Biggs looked to Cloud as they ran, thoughts racing through his head. "But it takes a lot of skill to get it to hit more than one person at a time."

Cloud ignored their chattering as he made it to where Zach stood by the door, and immediately began chanting another spell. This time, as he finished, he placed his hands on the doors and remained quiet for several seconds as he sensed the room beyond. When he broke contact, he shook his head, "No one inside right now, it's clear."

Without hesitation, Zach threw the doors open as Cloud grabbed the two unconscious guards and drug them inside. After Avalanche followed them, they shut the doors and quickly used some spare prison clothes laying in the laundry bins to tie the guards up, gag them, and then toss them into a closet for safe keeping.

"Now what?" Barret asked as he looked around the room, grateful that it was too early for anyone to be washing clothes, even in a prison.

Quickly running to a windowed door at the east of the room, Cloud peeked outside of it, and nodded as he saw exactly what he was hoping for. "Looks like this place follows standard Imperial prison layouts."

Catching on to what his friend was thinking, Zach ran up along side of him. "First level control room?"

Cloud nodded, "I can barely see it from here. Seems to be two guards outside of it, and probably two more inside, but they shouldn't be a problem. There's bound to be more down the connecting hall, but we should be able to block their access without much trouble."

"What are you planning?" Barret questioned as he walked over to join them.

"There are too many soldiers in this complex for us to make it to the third floor where the interrogation and execution chambers are without being caught." Looking back at the Avalanche leader, Cloud's eyes narrowed with determination. "But since I don't plan on being killed today, we're going to start a little distraction that should get all of the soldiers here out of our way."

* * *

On the third floor of the Sector Seven Prison Complex, two Turks agents strutted down the dimly lit hallways, passing the cellblocks of those who had been condemned to death. Marx walked with a cocky swagger past the doomed souls of the prisoners. Tobias, a tall and bulky individual with a hardened face and brown hair braided into a tail that hung down from the back, sneered at the soon to be executed. Both of them wore their blue suits; if it wasn't for their deadly demeanors, they could easily be confused for businessmen in such clothing. As they came to a stop at one of the cells, Marx motioned his head towards the lock. Taking his cue, Tobias tapped a code in on a panel next to the cell and the bars slid open. Stepping inside, Marx smirked at the young girl who wore a plain grey prison uniform and was sitting on the floor, barely managing to hug her knees to her chest thanks to the shackles on her wrists. 

The professional tone that he'd used when they had first arrested Miss Lockheart had been dropped by now; after all, they weren't in public anymore and there was no longer any point in acting as if he didn't enjoy this. "Aww, would you look at that. Poor thing looks like she's going to cry. What's wrong? Still depressed because your friends left you to die? They must _really_ care about you, huh?"

Tifa didn't respond to the demoralizing comment, her spirits were already too low for it to have any further effect. When the Turks had first brought her here, she'd cooperated with them as best she could out of respect for the fact that they were agents of the Holy Shinra Empire, but she had quickly learned that they weren't the noble protectors that she'd been led to believe. The Turks had seemed convinced that she knew more than she had let on, and so it hadn't been long before their simple questioning had taken a horrible turn. Unable to pry any useful information out of her through words alone, they had decided to attack her on a personal level.

They'd shown her evidence that Cloud and Zach were traitors with images taken by a caster within the building that had been destroyed. Using her shock over the pictures as a spring board, the Turks had slowly pushed her into accepting the horrifying truth; Cloud and Zach were terrorists working with Avalanche. They'd forced her to consider the possibility that everything she had known about her two friends could be a lie. To top it all off, they had pointed to the fact that her so called friends had left her here to take the fall for their crimes. While Tifa didn't know exactly how much of it was true, the seemingly undeniable fact that her friends were hiding many terrible things from her had broken her spirit.

Knowing that they'd broken her heart with that volley of information, the Turks had questioned her again, but she was unable to answer them because she didn't know anything. Unconvinced, the Turks then resorted to more physical tactics. Tifa had been threatened and beaten off and on for nearly an hour before they had finally given up. She could have stopped them. She wasn't as frail as she looked, but she hadn't lifted a finger in opposition. Not only was everything she cared for gone, but the Turks treatment of her had been a brutal display of the dark side of the Empire she had never known existed. Furious at her silence, the Turks had sentenced her to death, but even now she couldn't find the will to resist them; she had nothing left to live for, death would be a welcome escape from this terrible nightmare.

"Think we hit her too hard earlier?" Tobias wondered out loud. "She's being quiet."

"Maybe," Marx laughed, a vile and uncaring sound. "We did knock her around pretty good."

Crouching down, Marx looked her over as a filthy grin crossed his face. "But I bet I can get her to make some noise."

Lifting one brow, Tobias shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the cell's bars. "Oh, yeah? How's that?"

"Well, you know." Marx chuckled. "It just seems to me that it's an awful waste to kill something this nice looking without ever giving it a test ride."

As his partner snickered, Marx leaned in a little closer, placed his right hand on Tifa's chin, and lifted her head up. "What do you think, huh? How about offering yourself up as a gift to a couple loyal followers of Rufus?"

Disgusted, Tifa jerked her head away from his hand and spit at his left eye without saying a word. Reeling back in anger as he wiped at his face and glasses, Marx kicked her in the ribs. Tifa was sent tumbling onto her side, where she lay there, coughing.

"----ing -----!" Marx cursed at her. "No one treats a Turk that way!"

Without even needing to exchange words, the two Turks both approached her with vicious intentions. Tobias reached down and grabbed her hair, pulling her up and throwing her against her cot. Tifa didn't resist as he pushed her face and chest into the mattress and held her down with her rear end and legs hanging off the side. None of it mattered anymore.

Still furious, Marx grabbed at her pants and was about to pull them down when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. Not wanting a common, unknowing soldier to see their cruel and very unholy nature, they both backed off as Tobias tossed her again, this time sending her against one of the cell walls as they both turned in time to see one of the guards screech to a halt outside of the open bars.

"Sirs!" the guard gasped, his voice breaking between pants as he tried to catch his breath. "We have a big problem! All the cell blocks on level one have unlocked, prisoners are running rampant everywhere!"

"What!" Marx exclaimed. "How the hell did that happen?"

"A small group infiltrated the compound, sirs! We spotted them heading towards the first level control room, but they destroyed the hallways supports to stop us from following them. No one in the control room is responding to our calls, the intruders must have taken them out. All the guards in the complex are heading to the first level now to try and fight down the riot and locate the attackers, but we've already lost two men in the initial outburst!"

"Did you see them?" Marx asked as his expression darkened. "What did they look like?"

"I only saw one, sir, a blond haired man dressed in an Imperial uniform, but there were several others."

"It's gotta be them," Marx muttered. "Bran and Strife were in Special Ops, and it'd take that kind of skill to get that far into the compound before anyone caught on."

"They're coming for her." Tobias said as he looked to Tifa, who was now sitting up from the crumpled heap she'd been laying in.

Tifa couldn't believe her ears. After all the Turks had said she'd been nearly convinced that Cloud and Zach didn't really care about her, but now they were here to rescue her. Confusion crossed her bruised but still delicate features. Did this mean that the other things that the Turks had told her of were lies as well? In a burst, all the emotions that the Turks had crushed out of her came bubbling to the surface and she wanted out. As long as Cloud and Zach still cared about her then it didn't matter if they'd done something wrong. She had to escape so she could see them, and she wanted revenge on Marx and Tobias for all they'd done to her.

"Better get going," Tifa growled at them. "Your little guards won't even slow them down."

Marx shot her an evil glare and then yelled at the guard. "Take her to the execution chamber and see to it that she's good and dead by the time we get back up here! We'll take care of the intruders!"

The guard saluted as the two Turks ran past him and down the hall, the click of their shoes fading into silence as they went down the stairs to the second level. Turning towards Tifa, the guard approached her and pulled her to her feet, but with that spark renewed she wasn't going to cooperate any more. He began to drag her out of the cell and towards the execution chamber, but she jerked back and twisted her shackled hands free of his grip. Wrapping her fingers around his arm as he spun around to strike her, Tifa snapped the bone of his wrist in two. Crying out in shock and pain, but knowing that he had to fight back, the guard quickly reached for a dagger on his belt. Before he could make it, Tifa spun around, her leg lifting into the air and her foot crashed into the side of his neck, sending him spinning and smashing into the bars of the cell. Darting up behind him, she tossed the chain of her shackles around his neck and pulled back hard. Gasping, the man clawed at the metal with his good hand, but was unable to break her grip.

"I'm a master of five different martial arts styles," Tifa hissed into his ear. "Stop struggling or I'll give you a very painful lesson on how many bones are in the human body."

"Good." She said angrily as the guard instantly ceased his resistance. "Now pull those keys off of your belt and take these things off my hands. Be quick about it, I have some Turks to catch up to."

* * *

The hallway they'd destroyed had cut the level one control room off from the rest of the compound, so after releasing the locks on the prisoner's cells, Cloud, Zach, and Avalanche had waited to give the chaos time to escalate. After a few minutes, they stepped over the unconscious bodies of the rooms guards and slipped into a ventilation duct at the top of the room. Following maps of Imperial prison layouts that they'd memorized long ago in Special Ops, Cloud and Zach led them all through air system, safe from the riot that had begun and the guards who were racing around trying to contain it all. By the time they'd made it to the second level of the complex and dropped down to the floor, it was completely desolate. All the guards had gone to help with the riot on the first floor, and the prison cells on this level were in another section. With no one to contest them, they quickly made their way across level two and were nearing the stairway that led to the third level where they assumed Tifa was being held. Cloud brought them to a stop and carefully peered around the corner that took them to the single set of stairs leading up, bringing his head back behind the wall for cover as a magic round barely missed his face. 

"A Turk!" Zach growled, knowing that things just got much more complicated.

"Two of them, actually." Cloud said in an agitated tone. "I barely got a glimpse of them."

Barret shook his head, "There are more of us, we can take them."

"Not without getting shot as soon as we go around that corner, we can't." Cloud grunted. "Turks are hand picked for reason. They're good."

"Cloud Strife!" Came the voice of Marx from around the corner, recognizing the young soldier even though he'd only seen his face briefly. "Step around the corner with your hands in the air!"

"Not likely!" Cloud shouted back at them. "I'd rather not be shot!"

"You have been charged with treason against the Holy Shinra Empire!" Tobias yelled. "Surrender yourself immediately!"

"Look, there's been a big misunderstanding!" Zach yelled back. "We didn't help Avalanche destroy that center! We were in there trying to stop them!"

"Man, I don't think they're going to believe you when we're with you." Biggs said.

"Quiet," Zach whispered harshly.

From around the corner, they could hear the two Turks laughing.

"What difference does that make?" Marx said.

"What are you talking about?" Cloud yelled.

"It doesn't matter if you're with Avalanche or not! We can't just let you live after all you've seen, now can we? Sorry kid, but you're screwed regardless."

"No." Cloud grimaced, the Turk's words stinging like a knife in his chest. Did this mean that everything Barret had said was true?

"I told you," the Avalanche leader said. "They can't let you live now that you've seen the truth!"

Shaking his head, not caring about any of that at the moment, Zach yelled out to the Turks. "You have Tifa Lockheart here! She doesn't know about any of this, she's not with Avalanche, and she hasn't seen anything! Let her go, she's innocent!"

"We already know that, idiot." Marx scoffed. "Nobody could have kept quiet after all we did unless they really don't know anything!"

Lips curling in a sudden an overwhelming anger, Cloud shouted back at them with fury in his voice. "What the hell did you do to Tifa!"

"What didn't we do to her?" Marx cackled as he did his best to infuriate them further. "We were about to ---- the little -----, but you had to bust in and interrupt our fun!"

That was the last straw. The strange glow in Cloud's eyes increased rapidly as a blind rage overtook him. He knew that attacking them was suicide. The Turks would shoot him dead before he could get to them, but he didn't care; no one touched Tifa like that, no one. With a yell, Cloud bolted around the corner, bringing his sword back up over his shoulder to chop the heads off of the filthy Turks who'd tried to rape his friend. For an instance time seemed to slow down, he saw the two Turks clearly for the first time as they seemed to slowly bring their guns up towards him. Yelling something at him, Zach jumped from behind the cover of the corner, grabbed his arm, and threw him back to where the others were standing. Cloud's back crashed into Barret, who caught him as best he could under the circumstances. With fear in his eyes, Cloud watched as Zach started to jump back to them, but stopped in midair as his upper chest exploded in three places, blood sprayed as Zach's shirt caught fire from the explosive magic rounds and began to burn off. Cloud screamed something at his friend as his body hit the ground hard and rolled twice, putting the fire out as a puddle of blood slowly began to build around his body.

Time returned to normal as Cloud stared in absolute horror at Zach's fallen, motionless body not more than three feet away. Trembling uncontrollably, Cloud cried out, a wordless shout of anger and pain as he rose to his feet and readied his sword to rush around the corner again, but this time Barret saw it coming and grabbed him to hold him back.

Marx began laughing as if he'd just witnessed something incredibly funny. He twirled his gun once and aimed at Zach again, this time for his head. Just as he began to pull the trigger, there was a sound from behind him and a booted foot crashed into the back of his head. Marx's glasses flew off and shattered against the wall as he went tumbling forward, slamming hard into the ground and skidding past the corner, stopping just inches away from Cloud's foot. Without questioning what had happened, Cloud raised his broadsword back and slammed it down onto Marx's head, there was a sickening sound of splitting flesh and skull as the blade sliced and crushed through until it hit the metal floor.

Eyes going wide in astonishment as he watched his partner's head be cleaved in two, Tobias whirled around, raising his gun to kill whoever had caused this to happen. He had no chance to get a shot off, in fact, he barely even managed to realize that it was the prisoner, Tifa, before she sent three lightning fast jabs into his face. The third blow had her palm crash hard into his nose, snapping it and pushing it up and back until his brain was punctured by the shattered bones. Tobias slumped to the ground, lifeless, as Tifa ran past him and fell to her knees, sliding several feet to Zach's side.

As she came into sight, Cloud nearly killed her as well, thinking she was the other Turk, but stopped himself as he realized who she was. Without questioning how she had escaped, or how the battered looking girl was doing, he dropped down to the ground next to her as she lifted Zach's head up in her hands.

"Zach!" Cloud gasped, his voice breaking as he looked over his friends wounds; the explosive rounds had torn and burned his chest into a mangled mess. Centering his hands over the injuries, Cloud began to cast a curative spell as fast as he could. "Hang on, Zach!"

"Cloud," Zach barely managed to choke out as he raised a shaking hand to grasp at his friends wrist, his grip strong despite his condition. "Cloud!"

Trying his best to concentrate on the healing spell that wasn't working nearly fast enough while responding, Cloud attempted to blink away the tears forming in his eyes. "I'm here, Zach!"

"Can't see." The black haired soldier wheezed. "Leave me…gotta get Tifa."

Tears streaming down her cheeks, making her already dirtied face worse, Tifa hugged Zach's head to her chest. "It's me Zach, it's Tifa! I'm okay! Just hold on!"

"Tifa." Zach coughed, his voice sounding weaker. "So glad you're okay. Thought we were going to lose you."

"I'm fine, Zach!" Tifa wept. "You're not going to lose me!"

Blood sputtered from his lips as he coughed again and took a sudden, deep breath. His grip on Cloud's wrist tightened as his face contorted with pain, "Cloud! Cloud, don't let it-!"

Unable to contain his own tears any longer, Cloud's concentration broke as he looked to his friends face, not understanding what Zach was talking about.

"Don't let this waste." He quietly whispered. "Make it right."

A deep breath left Zach's mouth, and he didn't inhale again. His body went limp in Tifa's arms, his eyes staring blindly at the ceiling. Tifa dropped her head down, her cheek touching his as she wept bitterly. Squeezing his eyes shut and crying silently, Cloud leaned over and wrapped his arms around Tifa's shaking shoulders as her tears fell down onto the body of their friend.

* * *

The others had been gone for nearly two hours, and Wedge was becoming increasingly concerned. Sighing, he shifted his weight in the seat of their flatbed, light blue truck. He looked to the mirrors to watch the streets behind him and towards the prison complex for signs of movement. His eyes went alert as he heard a growling, rumbling sound, but relaxed as he realized that it was just his overly large stomach informing him that he was hungry. After another glance in the mirror, he leaned over and pulled a cream filled pastry out of a box on the passenger side seat and began stuffing it in his mouth. As he sat back up and looked into the mirror again, he jumped and dropped the food on his lap; everyone was running around a corner towards him. Reaching over and hitting the ignition switch, the materia powered engine roared to life as he watched them approach, noticing that there was another girl with them now, presumably Tifa. Wedge didn't see Zach with them, and he feared the worst as he saw that Barret was carrying something large wrapped in grey clothing over his shoulder. 

Jessie and Biggs reached the truck first and jumped into the open back. Jessie motioned for Tifa to hop in the front with Wedge as she and Biggs helped Barret and his bundle into the back with them. Cloud was the last; for some reason he was carrying two swords, one of which he tossed in the back with the others. Just then, a loud roaring sound ripped through the air and a Shinra soldier swerved around the corner after them, sitting on a materia engine two wheeler. Rounding the corner had shaved off too much of the soldiers speed and maneuverability, giving Cloud just enough time to swing his sword high as the biker passed him. The rider went flying, blood splattering through the air as his motorcycle tipped over and sent sparks flying as it slid to a halt.

"Go!" Cloud yelled at them as he ran towards the downed cycle and stood it back up. Barret pounded his fist on the side of their truck twice and Wedge slammed his foot on the materia pedal, the rubber wheels peeling out as they took off, leaving black lines behind them. Cloud hopped onto the cycle and kicked its ignition on. His hand pulled on the lever to release materia power into the motor, and then roared to a start after them just as five more Shinra riders swerved around the corner behind him and lay chase.

Personal materia powered vehicles like these were a fairly expensive invention and not many people in the city could afford or steal one, so there was little in their way as they rocketed down the road. They gained speed, but their pursuers were lighter and faster and were catching up. Cloud looked over his shoulder and clenched his teeth as he decided to do something insane. Easing the brake, he caused his cycle to drop in speed and let the first two of the riders zoom past him. As soon as they were by, he squeezed the accelerator to its limit and he quickly came up along side of the rider closest to Avalanche's truck. Balancing himself as best he could, Cloud held onto the accelerator while bringing his sword up with his other hand and swung it hard at the Shinra rider. His dangerous gamble paid off well as he managed to stay on his cycle as his sword slashed hard across the soldier's chest, causing the rider to fall backwards and lose control. Cloud pulled away and raced forward again, the wind whipping through his hair as the out of control cycle behind him swerved and skidded over the pavement, slamming into the rider behind it as it went down. Cloud looked over his shoulder just in time to see the two bikes erupt in a fiery explosion that sent scraps of metal flying, one of them puncturing another rider's chest, causing him to topple off of his cycle which veered off course and crashed into a storefront.

The remaining two Shinra riders accelerated further and made sure to stay clear of Cloud as they started to go up along the left side of the truck. Seeing that they were in danger, Jessie reached to her belt and pulled a small grenade from it that was hurled at the two cycles. The grenade hit the road between the two of them and exploded hard, sending one cycle and its owner flying and burning. Undeterred, the last rider lifted a hand and cast a magical ball of fire at them which struck the side of their truck and caused them to swerve badly, but Wedge managed to keep them from wrecking.

Eyeing the final pursuer, Tifa pulled herself up and out of the window on her door. Sitting her rear down on the door, she held onto the inside of the truck with one hand and aimed her other at the soldier.

"Time, rest and give your kindness to the worthy!" As the rushing wind blew her long hair in every possible direction, the air between her and the rider rippled strangely; a purple field of energy encircled the cycle and it abruptly slowed to half its previous speed. Unaffected by the slow spell, the rider continued to go just as fast as he had been and was sent flying forward where he smashed bloodily into the pavement, his body flipping several times before coming to a broken and twisted stop.

Free from immediate danger, Cloud pulled up alongside of the truck and yelled to Barret. "Me and Tifa need to get out of Midgar!"

Although he didn't know what the young but skilled soldier was planning, Barret nodded and shouted back. "I know a back street that'll get us out without going through any of the main gates! We should be able to make it out and away before the army has time to mobilize and lock the city down!"

"Then let's go for it!" Cloud slowed a little and let Wedge pull ahead of him to lead the way. They rushed down the empty streets of Sector Seven, leaving the wreckage of their former lives in their wake as they headed into an uncertain future.

* * *

As the crescent of the moon began to rise in the sky over the Midgar region, the small group of outlaws stood on a rocky cliff overlooking the lights of the city behind them. A flicker of fire could be seen even at this distance, from the ruins of Branch Seven of the Magic and Technology Research Division where this nightmare had begun less than a day ago still burned. They all watched with mixed feelings and emotions as Cloud drove his sword into the ground above where they had buried Zach's body. Walking to the back of Avalanche's truck to where he'd tossed Zach's Buster Sword earlier, he pulled it out and slid it into the sheath on his belt; he had decided to take it with him as a reminder of the friend who'd given up his life to save him. 

Behind him, Tifa sniffled as she stepped up and hugged Cloud's arm. They hadn't thought much about it since it first happened; everything had been going so fast that it just didn't seem real. Their mourning would have to wait until this chaos settled and they had time to come to terms with his death. Cloud wrapped an arm around Tifa's shoulders and squeezed her to him as they turned away from Zach's grave and looked to the four members of Avalanche, who had remained quiet throughout the entire ordeal.

"I'm sorry, Barret." Cloud said, the pride that had once been in his voice gone. What he had seen and heard in the complex, and what Tifa had told him about her imprisonment had wiped that from him. "You were right, and I didn't believe you."

"It's not your fault," Jessie spoke up, the stuck up tone she'd used with him up until now no longer present. "It's not something that's easy to accept. We all had to live through it before we believed."

"But," Cloud looked down, his brows furrowing in pain. "If I'd just believed, maybe Zach wouldn't have died. If I had accepted it sooner, I might not have lost my cool, and he'd still be here."

"You can't blame yourself, Cloud." Barret said, knowing all too well what he was going through. "It's not your fault. It's Shinra's. It's the Empires lies and evil agents that's caused all of this."

Tifa's arms slid around Cloud's chest and she hugged him tighter as the young man failed to respond.

"What are you planning to do?" Biggs asked.

Looking up as he sniffed and rubbed at his nose, Cloud shook his head. "We can't stay here. I don't want to be in that city anymore. I want to go find the Emperor."

Confusion crossed Jessie's features as her head shook, "But, why?"

"Zach told me to make it right, even if that's impossible, I have to try to honor that. I'll find the Emperor, and talk to him about it."

"You're not going to like what you hear." Biggs said quietly.

"Maybe not, but-" Cloud hesitated for a moment, but decided that he may as well say what he felt. "But, I just can't accept that Rufus is a part of all of this. I mean, I've seen him, I've heard him speak. He's not like this. They must have found a way to do all this without him knowing."

Avalanche didn't respond, but it was clear that Cloud's decision didn't sit well with any of them.

Cloud sighed and dropped his head, "Even if I'm wrong, I have to talk to Rufus and find out for myself. I can't believe he's the one doing this until I see it with my own eyes. After I hear his side of it all, well, I'll figure something out."

"If that's what you gotta do, then that's what you gotta do." Barret said quietly. "But, it's not going to be easy. You're wanted now. Local authorities, mercenaries, the Army, the Turks, everyone will be after you."

"I know." Cloud breathed. "But it's something I have to do."

Turning to Tifa, Cloud placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is my decision; you don't have to come if you don't want to."

Tifa shook her head, the sorrow in her eyes turning to bitter determination. "No, you and Zach were the closest things I had to family. You're all I have left, Cloud. I don't have anywhere else to go, but with you."

A sad smile crossed his lips as he hugged her to him again, and then turned back to Barret. "Rufus started in Kalm, but he'll probably be gone by the time we could get there. I know he's eventually visiting the Frozen North, and since he'll be stopping at other cities on the way there, he probably won't be using an airship. Chances are he'll be boarding a boat at Junon. We'll go there and watch for him."

"You won't make it on your own." Barret said. "You're a great fighter, but even all your Special Ops training hasn't prepared you for being hunted by everyone. You'll need some one with you who knows how to travel and survive under these conditions."

Taking a deep breath, Barret turned and looked towards Jessie, whose eyes went wide as she realized what he was going to say before he could.

"Boss, I can't go. You need me here, this is what I do."

Barret shook his head, "You're the only one who can, Jessie. You know I can't leave the city, and we need Biggs here for his contacts. And Wedge, well, he's just not in the right condition to be traveling like that."

He looked to the aforementioned soldier apologetically, but the chubby man just shrugged, uncaring; he knew it was true.

"We've already got a room full of bombs and explosives you made for us, we can manage for a while without you. They need your help more than we do." Barret looked her directly in the eyes, "Just like you needed my help back then."

Jessie's shoulders slumped; she didn't want to go, but she knew better than to argue with Barret, especially after he pulled that particular card on her.

"She doesn't have to," Tifa said, not wanting to split the group of friends up. "I'm sure we can make it on our own."

"No," Jessie said as she took a deep, determined breath. "Barret's right. I've gotten good at strutting around places where everyone and their mothers want me dead. You could use my help."

Cloud nodded to her, feeling bad for how much he'd distrusted the strong willed young girl before. Looking back to Barret and the others he asked, "What about you guys?"

"Plenty more Shinra monster farms to blow up." Biggs said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Yeah," Barret agreed. "Besides, we have other things we have to do in good ol' Midgar. Don't worry about us, we've been doing this for years now without being caught, we know how to get around."

"I don't doubt that at all," Cloud said.

"Here, Jessie." Barret said as he dug into one of his pockets and pulled out a good sized bag that jingled with the sound of gil, the currency of the Holy Shinra Empire.

Jessie took the money from her boss, and then hugged the large man tightly. That act initiated a series of brief good byes between the two groups, and then Jessie, Cloud, and Tifa left, heading west. As they watched them walk away, Biggs stepped up next to Barret.

"You didn't tell them everything."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's too much for them to take in, especially the boy." Barret reached over and rubbed at his gloved right arm again.

"We all noticed the glow in his eyes." Biggs said quietly as he watched his boss's action. "And I probably don't have to ask, but you recognized their accents too, right?"

"Inner continent." Barret nodded as he looked over his shoulder and watched Wedge get in the truck and start it back up. "He said he'd been in the army for five years."

"So he's been in the army long enough, he's from that region, and his eyes glow." Biggs shook his head in disbelief. "I guess that's the real reason you sent Jessie with them, huh?"

"That was part of it, but I would have helped anyway. I know what it's like to have everything stolen from you."

"Yeah." Biggs couldn't help but laugh. "I still can't believe he's the one we've been waiting for all this time."

"We can't know that for certain, but it'd be an awful lot of coincidences if he wasn't. I feel bad for the kid." Barret solemnly said as he looked down to the grave at their feet. "He's about to learn a lot of things he doesn't want to know."

"Don't you think-" Biggs hesitated, trying to find the words to voice the concern growing inside of him. "It's just; how we ran into him seemed too coincidental, didn't it? Or am I just being paranoid?"

"No," Barret said, his lips thinning into a hard frown. "You're right. Rufus leaves, giving us the opportunity to attack Branch Seven, and then we just happen to find this Cloud guy while we're there."

"The security at the facility was totally lax, too." Biggs noted. "We only saw those two guards the entire time; the place should have been crawling. Plus, the Turks took their sweet time getting there."

"You noticed too, huh?" Barret asked, but he didn't sound all that surprised. "It was all too easy. All of it."

"What does it mean?"

"It means," Barret sighed. "Some one set this up, and I don't think it was Reeves, he doesn't have access to the military or the science division."

"Maybe he managed to pull a few strings?"

"I don't think so. This was too well laid out for him alone." Barret frowned. "He's working with some one, and I'm betting it's not anyone we know."

"So we have a new player on the field." Biggs said as he watched the three figures that were now growing distant. "We better lay low for a while until we figure out what's going on."

* * *

Standing in a tall windowed office on one of the highest floors of Shinra Imperial Government Tower at the center of the city, Reeves looked down over Sector Seven and the still burning ruins of the facility that Avalanche had destroyed. After a moment of silence, a second figure stepped up to the windows next to him and joined him in his gaze. The man's skin was rather pale, as were his pastel blue eyes. His hair was cropped short and toned black with an odd tinge of blue to it. He wore a blue Imperial Army officer's uniform with white tassels on the shoulders. The chest of his uniform was littered with medals and badges, signifying the many accomplishments he'd attained in his life, highlighted by the studs on his collar that marked him as Lieutenant General. 

"It's done, Zahn." Reeves said, pointing out the painfully obvious.

"So it is." Zahn responded with a calm voice. Though he didn't look to be over thirty-five, a single glance at his face told that he had enough experience for twice that age. Under normal circumstances the two of them would never meet in a public place, especially not here in the tower, but with Rufus currently away it was simple to go unnoticed.

"Did everything go as you planned?"

"Yes." The man answered, a small smile coming to his face. "Cloud Strife is now aware that something is wrong within the Empire."

"I still think you're taking an awful risk." Reeves said, nervously scratching at his chin. "Now that he's left the city, there's no way you can control what happens."

"I don't need to." Zahn said with confidence. "Cloud has worked under me in Special Operations for years now, I know him well. He will undoubtedly seek out Rufus to learn the truth. I imagine he'll catch up to the Emperor in Junon, and I'll see to it that he boards the ship to Costa Del Sol from there. So long as he isn't captured, he'll find the old General in the desert and then it's only a matter of time."

"I hope you're right." Reeves said, but he definitely had his doubts about all of this. "If this fails, we may never have a chance to get rid of Rufus again."

"Just leave everything to me." Zahn said. "And keep me informed of any information your contacts reveal."

Without another word Lieutenant General Zahn turned and walked out of the office, leaving Reeves alone in his thoughts. He continued to stare at the burning center that had now started it all and became lost in thought. Things had been set in motion this day that could not be undone, and when they completed, the world would be forever changed.


	3. Chapter III Duck and Run

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

My homepage has been updated with the first two pieces of AR artwork since last week, be sure to check it out if you enjoy the story!

Check back next weekend for chapter IV.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review, and I'll address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter III

Duck and Run

In the waning light of the evening sun, the high rising towers of the cathedral looked even more majestic than they normally did. Behind the elegant structure the sun slowly sank into the mountains, casting long shadows over the city of Kalm. It was indeed fitting that the very birthplace of Rufus had become the heart of the Empire's religion, and the home to the Church of the Divine Emperor's most grandiose place of worship.

From the bell tower, the entire city was visible. Multitudes of brown and black rooftops on old fashioned wood and stone cottages and cabins stretched out in a circular pattern around the marketplace that was at the center of the city. At this time of day the citizens could be seen heading home for a good nights sleep, though they were barely specks at this height.

Although she was still in her mid twenties, Elena had become High Priestess nearly two years ago. It was her faith and devotion that had allowed her the privilege of leading the Church of the Divine Emperor, but it was still heavily rumored that she had achieved her position due to nothing more than heritage. Where the story had begun, she had never found out, but it wasn't hard to see how people could think such a thing. With her orange-blond hair, light tone of skin, and authoritative but peaceful features, she looked very much like the Emperor himself; only the amber shade of her eyes truly set her appearance apart from Rufus. Whether or not she was truly related to the Emperor, however, was pure speculation as she would not confirm nor deny such allegations. For decades members of the Shinra family had attempted to use their heritage for personal gain, and she would rather not be thought of in that fashion by anyone other than rumormongers.

Elena often came up here to the bell tower to watch the sunset and the beautiful city, but on this day her attention was focused elsewhere. From this vantage point she could still see the heavily guarded caravan that had left Kalm not more than an hour ago, carrying none other than Rufus himself. Today had marked the beginning of a spontaneous and epic journey for the Emperor that would surely bring happiness to all the places he visited, and she had been very pleased when he had decided to begin the trip at the place of his birth.

Yet, something hadn't been quite right about the entire ordeal. She had noticed when he first arrived in Kalm and spoke with her about his plans to tour the Empire. Rufus had been excited about the prospect, and seemed rather pleased about it, which was completely understandable. However, Elena had noticed a subtle sense of urgency about the pilgrimage beneath his happiness that she hadn't expected. Perhaps she was wrong, but it was almost as if Rufus was too eager to speed through the journey. This observation also went along with the abnormally sudden way the trip had been formed in the first place. Rufus rarely left Midgar, and when he did it was always planned ahead quite thoroughly with most major members of the government and Church told well in advance. Yet this pilgrimage had been a spur of the moment decision that, from what she could tell, had been planned only a day ago. The behavior was uncharacteristic of the Emperor, and she couldn't help but wonder why visiting cities across the vast Holy Shinra Empire was suddenly so important.

Nevertheless, Elena didn't let it do any more than pique her curiosity. For nearly a century now, Rufus had led the world closer and closer to everlasting peace. Her faith in his vision and his genius was unwavering; whatever the reason for this hastily concocted journey of his was, she was certain that it would ultimately be the cause of good for all mankind.

* * *

The Marsh of Myth; a stinking place that foul creatures dwelled in and travelers feared. Few dared to enter it, the dangers were too great and the benefits too small. All that it offered was a shortcut past the mountains, but most would rather choose the longer trek over the range; at least there they could stop in the mountain villages and not worry about what sorts of creatures would be stalking them. 

For the unfortunate trio that had left Midgar two days ago, the threat of the marsh was no where near as dangerous as the possibility of being captured. It was unlikely that the Empire was hunting them just yet, but until they passed the mountains it was best to avoid Imperial towns; for now they were still too close to Midgar and news of any possible bounty on their heads would spread fast in this region.

"Yuck." Tifa groaned as her foot splashed into the soggy ground. "This place sucks."

"At least it's only your clothes you have to worry about." Jessie responded. "If we weren't skirting the edges we'd have to deal with monsters too."

Cloud said nothing as they continued on; he knew that staying on the marsh's outskirts wasn't enough, they'd been incredibly lucky to avoid some sort of random encounter with one of the marsh's monsters so far. The fact that he was dead tired kept him quiet as well; after all, he was nearing three days with no sleep and little rest. That would change soon, though. They had decided to take a short break upon reaching the Cave of Myth which would take them beneath the mountains, and lay just beyond the marsh itself. After hours of travel, the cave was now only a few hundred yards away. Just the sight of the rocky entrance made Cloud feel more rested; it was going to be very nice to sit down.

"I can't wait to sit down." Tifa said, mimicking his thoughts. "Are you sure this cave is safe to rest in?"

"A lot safer than this marsh is." Jessie responded.

"That doesn't answer my question very well."

"It'll be fine. We'll just find a spot where nothing can get to us."

"Great." Tifa griped; she was obviously not very pleased by that response.

Cloud started to suggest that Tifa merely place a barrier around them when they rested as that would keep them perfectly safe, but he stopped as he heard a strange, bubbling noise behind them. Senses immediately alert, Cloud turned with his hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword. Sky-blue eyes darted across the marsh as he tried to locate the source of the sound. Tifa began to ask what was wrong, but Cloud swiftly shushed her with a wave of his hand. Whatever he had heard was gone now, but he was certain that something was out there. The two girls came up alongside of him to look for danger as well, but none of them could see anything.

"Come on, Cloud." Tifa said quietly. "You're just imagining things."

As she spoke, Cloud spotted movement nearly fifty yards away; the muddy patches of ground were shifting as if something was beneath it.

"We have to get to the cave." He said.

Before they could ask why, the marsh erupted and a muddy column of green thrust into the sky, rising over thirty feet before it began to curve back down. After a few startled seconds they realized what they were seeing; the body of an enormous serpent. The giant snake slithered up completely and curled its body as it unfurled its hood and began to shake its three-way tail.

"Run!" Cloud yelled as he turned and darted across the marsh as fast as he could. As Tifa and Jessie hurriedly followed, the massive serpent opened its thin jaws, extended dripping fangs that were nearly a foot in length and lay pursuit.

There was no time for questions or comments. It didn't matter what the thing was or why it was chasing them; there was barely even time to run. Although the great serpent was far enough back that it couldn't reach them yet, its speed would soon change that. The cave was close now, but still not close enough. The serpent had no trouble swiftly traversing the marsh, but they were not so lucky. They refused to look back, even as they heard the creature hiss so loudly that it sounded like a roaring Behemoth.

Panting from fear and exhaustion, Jessie ripped a grenade from her belt and hurled it over her shoulder. She was just hoping to slow it down a little, but the grenade missed the serpent and exploded harmlessly on the muddy ground.

"Layer upon layer make your mark now." Tifa shouted, doing her part to aid their escape. "Haste!"

As Tifa's spell went into effect, a strange red glow enveloped the three of them and they found their legs pumping faster. Not bothering to question it, Jessie reached to her belt again and another grenade was thrown behind her haphazardly, but the sound of angered hissing told them that this time the bomb had come closer to its target. Cloud risked a glance behind him and quickly realized that Jessie's attacks and Tifa's haste spell weren't going to be enough. The serpent was gaining and it was going to catch them before they could escape into the cave. The situation now called for something that Cloud had always been lucky with; a crazy strategy.

Looking around the landscape quickly for something he could work with, Cloud formulated a suicidal plan and immediately began executing it. Much to their advantage, the marsh was beginning to end, giving way to the sharp, rocky base of the mountains. Just ahead of them was a particularly dangerous looking section of jagged boulders that jutted high into the air. Cloud headed towards them as fast as he could, hearing the snake alter course to follow him. Pulling the Buster Sword from its sheath, he took a flying leap onto one of the boulders, and then bounded off of it to a higher one.

"What are you doing!" Tifa screamed at him as she screeched to a halt behind another rock and watched him leap and climb his way further up.

Cloud barely registered her words as he made it to the top most rock of the sharp formation and turned around just in time to see the serpents head dart towards him. Jumping to the side, Cloud stabbed his sword at it as hard as he could and was rewarded as the blade sank into the monsters scaly flesh, just below its head. Injured, but not defeated, the serpent reared its head up and shook in pain. With his sword still inside of it, Cloud was jerked into the air as well where he held onto the Buster's hilt for his very life. Using his weight, Cloud swung himself until his booted feet hit the snake's scales and he used the momentum to pull himself onto the top of its head. Still tightly gripping his sword in one hand and a scale in the other to keep from being thrown off, he quickly chanted a spell from the single black magic element he was able to conjure.

"Swirling bolts gather and strike with power! Thundaga!" He cried out as a current of electricity ripped from his hands, coursed through the sword, and slammed into the snake's body.

The effect was instantaneous; the electricity spurred the snake into a hissing, seizure. The great serpent jerked in multiple directions as its brain began to fry from the pulsating current. With another terrible spasm, the upraised serpent fell and crashed into the jagged rocks. The razor sharp edges of the stone spikes skewered its body, sending waves of thick blood pouring to the ground as its now lifeless head toppled down. As it plummeted, the Buster was finally thrown loose, and Cloud, who had miraculously held on thus far, was sent flying. His grip on the sword went slack and it fell from him as his arm slammed into a rock wall and he tumbled ten feet to the ground, where he landed hard on his side and didn't stand.

"Cloud!" Tifa screamed as she ran towards him.

"I'm okay." Cloud managed to choke out through gritted teeth, but it was clear that he was lying. As Tifa touched his side to roll him over he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and inhaled deeply from the pain of fractured ribs and a badly bruised and broken arm.

Jessie reached them just as Tifa began to pull his shirt up to inspect the wounds more closely, but Cloud waved her off with his good arm.

"It can wait," he grunted. "We need to get to the cave first; there might be more of them out there."

Tifa bit on her lower lip and her eyebrows knitted with worry, but she knew better than to argue with him, especially when he was right.

"What the hell was that thing?" Jessie muttered as she picked up the Buster Sword and then assisted Tifa in gingerly getting Cloud to his feet.

"It's called a Zolom." Cloud told her after he silently cast a small cure spell on himself to numb the pain until they could reach a safe spot to properly care for his injuries. "It must have been young to be that small."

"That was small?" Tifa's voice didn't do well at hiding her astonishment.

"They get a lot bigger than that," he hissed through his teeth as they began making their way to the cave, which was now less than two hundred feet away. "The older ones will be here soon; we need to get to the cave as fast as we can."

Despite her better judgment, Cloud's words had Tifa looking over her shoulder the rest of the way. In her mind she made a mental note; she was going to make it a point not to like snakes of any size from this day forward.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon in the city of Midgar. Turks stood guard at the ruins of the Sector Seven Magic and Technology Research Center as black clad men and women sifted through the debris. There had been no official statement made about this attack except that it was under investigation, but Scarlet Grant knew better. There was no investigation because there was nothing that needed to be discovered; they merely needed to clear the site of any evidence left intact from the Mako Enhancement Project. 

As her light brown eyes surveyed the wreckage of what had previously been the third largest experimental facility in the Empire, her stomach turned; this was going to cause immense complications. Scarlet was a young woman at the age of twenty-seven, but she looked as if she was barely of legal age to wear what she was; a tightly clinging dress of silky red that started midway down her breasts and was slit on both sides from the bottom all the way to the tops of her hips. The blond of her long, pony-tailed hair clashed with the dress and made her stand out even in the most beautiful of company. Yet, despite her age and physical attributes, her job was a dark and vile one. Scarlet was the head of the Magic and Technology Research Division's weapons department; a section that few people knew existed.

Hearing a familiar voice speaking to the Turks behind her, she rolled her eyes, let out a heavy sigh, and turned just in time to see Shinra's resident mad scientist approaching her. At fifty-six years old, Professor Hojo was not exactly the picture of perfect health. The aging man walked with his back hunched and his head bowed low. For some reason, he always seemed to keep his hands folded behind his back as he walked, but fiddled with his thick glasses or his chin when he stood still. The overly large, white lab coat that he wore helped hide how thin he was, but nothing could quite disguise the fact that he was a thoroughly unattractive man. From his ratty black hair, to his weasely grin, he was not the type people enjoyed gazing upon.

Scarlet detested Hojo, though she never had figured out why. The Professor had never done anything in specific that had angered her; she just didn't like him. Even still, she shifted her legs to cause one hip to jut out quite noticeably, and placed a hand on it as he reached her. The rather provocative pose was one she seemed to do reflexively when in the company of any man, or woman for that matter, who was in a position of power equal to or greater than her own; she had no qualms about using her body to expand her grasp within the Empire.

"Well well," she scoffed at him. "Look who's back. I hope you had a good time in Kalm while we dealt with your problems."

"Don't test me, Scarlet." Hojo snapped back at her. "You'll regret it."

"Oh?" Scarlet held her right hand to her mouth and chuckled quietly. "I don't think I'll be the one regretting anything this time, Hojo. This is your mess, not mine."

"Mm." Hojo mumbled wordlessly as he scratched at his chin and looked around at the devastation. "No, no. I was away. You are in command of the facilities when I'm not here, you know that."

"Thank you for reminding me, but I'm well aware of that."

"Then why," Hojo's brows lifted. "Is this my mess?"

"Because this was caused by one of your little pet projects gone awry."

"And how is that?"

"Avalanche. This was Barret Wallace's doing."

"So?" Hojo waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Your point?"

"You just have no fear, do you?" Scarlet shook her head in disbelief. "How can you not be concerned about this?"

"It was only one facility, Scarlet." Hojo reminded her. "A large one, granted, but still just one. The work will continue unaffected."

"You might be able to pack up and rebuild your babies without much trouble, but you can't rebuild Marx and Tobias, can you?"

"Who?"

"You don't pay attention to anything outside of that little world in your head, do you? Marx and Tobias were two of our highest ranking Turks."

"Why does that concern me?"

"Because!" Scarlet suddenly snapped, looking clearly agitated with his uncaring attitude. "They were two of Rude and Reno's best men. They are _not_ going to be happy when they learn that they're dead."

"You worry far too much." Hojo shook his head. "They are replaceable. There are few things in this world that are not."

"Now that you're right about." Scarlet said as her red painted lips spread into an evil grin. "I haven't told you the best part yet."

"Oh? And what sort of boring and unimportant tale are you going to spin this time?"

"Avalanche was assisted by Imperial soldiers." She said, ignoring his remark.

"Defections happen." Hojo shrugged it off.

"Come to think of it, weren't you in Kalm because you needed to keep watch over a soldier who was part of a two man team on their way to the cathedral?" Scarlet spoke slowly, letting her words drawl out to take full effect. "How did that go?"

"They never arrived." Hojo said in a strained voice as her words put his stomach in knots. "A simple delay, I'm sure."

"Oh, they were certainly delayed." She sneered at him. "Becoming terrorists and then fleeing Midgar will do that."

"Strife is gone?" Hojo asked quietly as his face became even paler than usual. "Does Rufus know about this?"

"Not yet. I transmitted a report to him about the facility, but that was before I learned about Strife's involvement."

"Do not speak to him of this." Hojo said in a suddenly angered tone. "I will tell him myself when he returns from his journey."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it." Scarlet said with a wicked smile on her face. "I want to be there to see the look on his face when he hears about this."

There was no sarcastic remark, or insulting reply from the professor. Without another word, he turned and began walking away from the clean up site. Scarlet stood there watching him with a grin of triumph on her face. The severity of the situation made it no laughing matter, but for now she couldn't help but be delighted with the worries that must be going through his head.

* * *

It had been early in the chilly mountains of the Nibel Range when they had arrived. The temperature here never rose above sixty and rarely seemed to go lower than forty; it was as if the region was frozen in a habitual state of misery. This was where Cloud Strife had grown up, and now only months after he had left it to join the military in Midgar, he found himself here again. 

A long and bumpy ride had brought them here to this abysmal place. He wasn't exactly sure what the mission was, all that he knew was that there was some sort of disturbance in Nibelheim, and he had been chosen to help calm the locals due to his relationship to the town. Being in the presence of the men who had been assigned to take care of the unknown problem in Nibelheim hadn't helped ease the discomfort of the long trip in the slightest. It didn't seem that the creases had even smoothed from his new Holy Shinra Imperial Army uniform, and yet during the ride he had sat across from two men who were nearly as legendary as Emperor Rufus himself. Escorting Professor Hojo, one of the most brilliant minds in history, was humbling enough, but nothing could compare to sitting next to General Sephiroth Kagemusha, a soldier without equal. Cloud remembered staring at the leader of the HSIA and being utterly astounded at how far this world renowned warrior had come in the thirty years since he had been discovered as an orphan on the doorsteps of the cathedral in Kalm. Sephiroth's mighty presence demanded respect; even army veterans could not hope to compare to General Kagemusha, let alone a rookie fresh out of training like Cloud.

Now, nearly a week after they had arrived in his hometown all of that had changed. As Cloud stood in the middle of the streets he had played in as a child and looked around at the flames that were rapidly consuming everything and everyone he had known during his life, all the respect he had for Sephiroth evaporated. He didn't know what had happened inside of the old, abandoned Shinra Mansion in order to trigger this, nor did he really care. All that mattered was that Sephiroth, the man he had looked upon as a hero and a role model, had gone mad. Taking his standard issue short sword in hand, Cloud ran through his flaming hometown, dodging the bloodily dismembered bodies of his former neighbors as he searched for the one who had caused this to happen. Darting past two buildings, he skidded to a halt as he briefly saw a shadow move down a path between the structures. Altering course, Cloud quickly followed just in time to see two more townspeople; a man named Graham, and his wife Cassandra. He had known the middle-aged couple for as far back as he could remember. Cloud began to shout for them to run when a flash of steel came from nowhere and Cassandra fell, her brunette haired head rolling away from her torso as her body hit the charred ground.

Watching in horror, Cloud saw Graham begin to scream for his dead wife as Sephiroth stepped into view, the normally perfectly kept blue uniform he wore now stained with massive amounts of blood. Beneath his officer's cap, his short trimmed silver hair was a disheveled mess, and the look on his gore splattered face was a vision that could inspire the darkest nightmares imaginable. Despite his fear, Cloud rushed towards the murderous general, but was not nearly fast enough. With another quick slash of Sephiroth's katana, Graham buckled over, dead long before his body fell over top of his wife's. From the momentum of his swing, Sephiroth threw his weight and extended his leg, impacting Cloud's chest with a painful roundhouse kick just as the boy reached him. Sent sprawling, Cloud rolled over the ground until his head and shoulders impacted the wall of a burning home. The speed of his tumble sent him through the weakened wood, raining ember and ash down upon him. When at last he came to a stop from the unbelievably powerful blow, he looked up through blurred vision to realize that he had crashed into his own home. With terror in his heart, he looked to his left, catching just a glimpse of his mother's corpse hanging from the wall with one of her own cooking knives slammed through her face before he turned his head away and screamed at the top of his lungs. Before he had time to fully come to terms with what he had witnessed, Sephiroth stepped through the flaming hole in the wall without worry of being injured, as if he was the devil himself.

"Why!" Cloud cried out with tears of physical and mental pain streaming down his cheeks. "Why are you doing this! You're supposed to be a hero!"

Taking one long step, Sephiroth reached him and with a single hand lifted him high off of the ground by his neck as maniacal laughter broke out of him.

"Feeble human!" The madman spoke wickedly. "You know nothing of me!"

"Human?" Cloud barely managed to gasp despite the crushing grip around his throat. "What are you talking about!"

"It is of no concern to you, human!" Sephiroth shouted as he threw Cloud to the left, sending him through the wall once more and, consequently, back outside.

Rolling hard, Cloud coughed up blood as he somehow found the strength to stand and lift his sword.

"You bastard!" He shouted as he began to run in a stumbling line towards the murderer who was just now exiting his burning home. "I'll kill you!"

As Sephiroth erupted into crazed laughter, Cloud awoke, sweating and panting in a small bed. After a moment of horror, the laughter died back within his head, once again allowing the past to subside and the present to take hold.

"Why can't I remember what happened?" Cloud said as he took a deep, shuddering breath and stared at his hands which he had unconsciously balled into fists. "And why can't I just forget the rest of it?"

Chest heaving as he breathed heavily, he ran his palms over his face and shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. A quiet moan came from his left and he jerked around, only to see Tifa in the other bed as she rolled over and looked at him with hazy, squinted eyes.

"Something wrong?" she asked with sleepiness in her voice.

Cloud shook his head and without another word Tifa curled up and fell back to sleep. Standing up, he walked to a grimy window and looked down to the town below. He'd lied to Tifa, there was definitely something wrong, it merely wasn't anything new so it didn't concern him right now. Ever since that fateful day five years ago, he'd had horrible nightmares of the incident. Yet for some reason, the nightmares always ended in the same manner; not once had he ever dreamt past that point, nor could he recall the outcome when he was awake.

It took him a few moments to get his bearings and remember just exactly what was going on. They had arrived in this small town late the previous night, almost one week since the events in Midgar. Had he not needed to spend so much time casting healing spells on himself and resting after their escape from the young Zolom, they would have been here sooner. Luckily, the journey through the Cave of Myth hadn't brought anymore unexpected set backs. None of them had actually wanted to stop here, but they were in need of supplies to continue on towards Junon, so they had no choice in the matter. All three of them were at least a little concerned about being recognized, but the chances of anyone here being up to date on news from Midgar was quite small. After all, the Fortress of Condor was far less impressive than its name implied. From his window, Cloud could see the tall, crooked, blue tower that completely made up the mighty "fortress". The entire place was little more than a backwater town with an overly large guard tower that had stood for over a century.

The tower was rumored to have been an outpost for one of the great kingdoms that had existed long ago. It received its new name after the collapse of the old world when it became the base of operations for a small, renegade army. After the army fell during the many wars of that time, the survivors lived in hiding in the fortress and made it their home, and their descendants now populated the tiny, poverty stricken town that existed today. The unfortunate condition of the town currently helped keep him, Tifa, and Jessie from being captured. Although the townsfolk trusted in Rufus, their lives were too ruined for them to care much about what went on in the Empire. There was little chance that anyone here would have any idea of who they were, or of what had happened in Midgar.

When they'd first arrived, Jessie brought them to a run down inn that was owned by an Avalanche sympathizer named Arvis. It was, as Cloud had so eloquently put it when he'd first seen their room, a ---- hole. Dirt, grime, dust, broken boards, shattered windows, stained beds, and all sorts of insects could be seen just about everywhere they looked, but at least it was safe, and it couldn't be any worse than sleeping in a monster infested cave somewhere. As Cloud looked out the spider-web entangled window of their room, he ran a hand over where his arm had been broken during their trip through the Marsh of Myth. It was still weak, but his healing magic had more or less mended the bone by now and it should be perfectly fine by the time they actually reached Junon.

Watching the inhabitants of this pitiful place, his mind began to wander off and the events of late started to surface. It was unbelievable, what had happened. Only a matter of weeks ago, his life had been in perfect order; he'd been a skilled soldier in a much coveted position of the Holy Shinra Imperial Army, and he'd had his friends with him to make him happy when he wasn't busy working. Friends; looking back over his shoulder at the bed where Tifa lay, the plural of that word began to haunt him. Cloud had only one friend left, now. Zach was gone forever, and he'd been so disillusioned by everything that was happening that he hadn't even had time to think on it. It all felt so unreal, as if it was just some terrible dream that he'd soon wake up from and find his good friend still alive and well. Yet he knew that wasn't the case; sooner or later this madness would settle down and he would have to come to terms with Zach's death. Cloud wasn't looking forward to that; physical pain was something he'd become used to, but emotional devastation wasn't his cup of tea. For now, he would just have to occupy himself and keep his thoughts on discovering the truth as Zach had asked him to. He only hoped that by the time he found this truth, he would be prepared to face the pain that grieving Zach's death would cause him.

As if it had been perfectly timed to save Cloud from his own thoughts, the door squeaked open on its rusty hinges and in stepped Jessie, carrying several bags of supplies for the duration of their trip. Cloud held a finger up to his lips and then pointed towards Tifa to indicate that they should be quiet and let her sleep, and Jessie nodded in agreement as she sat the bags down on a slightly lopsided table in the center of the room. Walking the short distance to the table, Cloud began helping her remove the bags contents as well as look over what she'd managed to acquire; food, water, camping and hiking equipment and new clothing for all of them. With Tifa still in the prison uniform she'd been assigned, and Cloud still in his Special Ops uniform, new garb had been high priority if they wished to avoid drawing unwanted attention to themselves as they neared the more civilized Shinra cities.

Jessie had, apparently, already changed into her new clothing, which was slightly less "terrorist" looking than her previous camouflage and armor. She now wore a slightly loose turtle neck, and a pair of rather baggy capri pants that were absolutely covered with pockets. Both her top and bottom were of the same jade coloring, which stood out from the black of the standard women's combat vest, fingerless gloves, and boots she now wore. To top the new look off, she had replaced her red bandanna with a jade one to match her clothing as she seemed to demand to have something tied around her forehead at all times.

As he dug through the bags, Cloud located the clothing she'd picked up for him. She'd done surprisingly good job at finding something that would fit him well, but he had a feeling that she'd done this sort of thing before when gathering things for Avalanche back in Midgar. There was a short sleeved shirt and a pair of pants made of the same dark blue material. Both were thick enough to not rip up so easily, but loose as well so that he would be able to move well in them. The pair of pants had two zip up compartments on each leg, while the shirt was void of anything. After the Marsh of Myth, he'd asked her to get him some new boots as well, so she'd brought him a pair similar to her own, as well as black gloves that would go halfway up his lower arm. The final piece was a small, iron breastplate he'd requested; while not enough armor to help him against a skilled opponent, it would be good for any monsters that felt the need to go directly for his heart.

He also saw Jessie removing the clothes she'd found for Tifa, but he didn't bother going through those. Tifa could do that when she awoke, and after seeing the clothes she'd found for him, he was sure Jessie had done a fine job of gathering something Tifa could work with as well. The finishing touches for all three of them were black rain cloaks that Jessie laid down next to the small sleeping bags she'd found for them all.

"So," Jessie quietly said as the last of the bags contents were stacked onto the table. "Did I miss anything?"

Cloud shook his head, "No. You were pretty thorough. I see you even bought some more explosive components for yourself."

"Yeah," Jessie shrugged. "Well, you never know when you'll need to get out of a tight spot, and I'm just about out of the ones I had on me."

"I know. We'll be traveling mostly at night, and it's at least a four day journey to Junon from here. Chances are likely that we'll run into at least a few monsters on the way, so it's good to be prepared."

"Yeah." Jessie said as she reached up and rubbed at her neck. "Hey, are you done sleeping? I could really use some rest, but some one needs to stay up just in case."

"Yeah, I can't sleep anymore. Besides, you've been out buying stuff all day; you need it more than I do now."

Jessie nodded her thanks and sat on the edge of the bed, removing her boots and vest as she prepared to lie down.

"Eat some of that," she said as she nodded towards the food she'd brought. "I had some before I got back. You and Tifa must be starving."

"Alright." Cloud said as he began looking over some fruit that was on the table. "Make sure you get plenty of sleep. We need to leave during the night."

Jessie waved a hand at him in dismissal as she slid under the not-so-great sheets of the bed and closed her eyes. Finally picking up an apple and biting into it, Cloud walked back over to the window and looked down at the streets again. Tomorrow they would leave for Junon, and hopefully to a meeting with the Divine Emperor himself.

* * *

High in the clear blue sky seagulls called out to one another as they glided above the magnificent, coastal city of Junon. The second largest city in the Holy Shinra Empire, Junon was a marvel of new technology. The advent of both steam and materia powered machines had transformed this once small fishing village into a thriving city of engineering wonders. In a short time Junon had become the heart of the Holy Shinra Imperial Navy; a fleet consisting of over two hundred ships powered by man and not by wind. It was the sole, legal gateway to and from the western continents. 

Tifa and Jessie both remembered this city, but for very different reasons. For Tifa, the city of Junon had been her first glimpse of the true glory of the Holy Shinra Empire, which was largely absent from the inner continent where Nibelheim was located. For Jessie, the iron walls and paved streets of the cliffside city was a dreary reminder of how her involvement in this hell began.

"What's taking him so long?" Tifa asked with a nervous tinge to her voice. "What if he's been captured?"

In her worry, Tifa tugged at the edges of the light blue, oriental shirt that was part of the clothing Jessie had obtained for her in the Fortress of Condor. The shirt cut off at her midriff and had long sleeves that were wide at the wrists, was fastened up the center by several small ties, and appeared quite form fitting. The rest of her clothing was much less elaborate, with her legs being covered by a slightly loose pair of dark blue slacks, and buckled shoes on her feet. She had also insisted on buying a new pair of blitz gloves before they'd left Condor, which she now wore as well.

"Relax," Jessie soothed. "He's got a lot of skill that the normal military doesn't, he's not going to be spotted or caught so easily."

Despite her words, even Jessie was a bit concerned. Cloud had gone into the city ahead of them as they waited in the rocky plains around it for him to return. The goal had been to do a quick reconnaissance to see whether the city soldiers were on the lookout for them or not. Given the length of time he'd been gone, it was possible that he'd run into trouble, but Jessie opted instead to believe that he was just being thorough; after all, he was a professional, despite his young age.

In the hopes of getting their minds off things, Jessie decided to ask Tifa a few questions, and perhaps get a few of the answers she had been curious about since they had first left Midgar together.

"So," she said in an absentminded fashion to cover up her intentional questioning, "How long have you and Cloud been together?"

"Uhm," Tifa blinked at her as she thought about it, obviously the girl had not expected Jessie to show any interest in their past. "As long as I can remember, really. We grew up next door to each other."

"Ah, first love, huh?"

"Oh," Tifa breathed out, and in a suddenly shy fashion, she tucked a strand of hair behind one ear and looked away as red tinged her cheeks. "No, it's not like that. We're just friends."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jessie's words hardly represented what she was really thinking. She'd noticed at least a hint of disappointment, and perhaps regret, in Tifa's answer. It didn't take an airship scientist to figure out that she had feelings for Cloud, even if the two of them had never pursued a more intimate relationship. "I just assumed."

"No, it's okay." Tifa spoke quietly. "It's an honest mistake."

"I guess." Noting that this would be a good spot to get to one of her real questions, Jessie pursued the opportunity. "So, where did you two grow up?"

"Nibelheim."

"Ah," Jessie made a mental note of that, as it helped to confirm her suspicions. "That little town in the Nibel Mountain range."

"You've heard of it?" Tifa sounded shocked.

"Well, yeah." Jessie looked down, trying to show her sympathy while still getting the answers she wanted. "I read about what happened there when I was younger, I'm sorry."

"Oh," Tifa looked back down, her voice going soft again. "Me and Cloud moved to Midgar just a couple of months before it happened. Cloud was there during the attack, though. He was put on the team because he knew the area really well."

"He was there?" Jessie asked, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice. "I heard there were no survivors."

"Yeah, that's what they said when it first happened, but then they found him. I guess it wasn't important enough to make the news." Tifa hugged her arms to herself, a look of deep sadness on her face. "I thought he was dead for months, but then he finally came back to Midgar."

"Months?" Jessie asked. "He must have been pretty bad off if it took that long to heal him up."

"Yeah." Tifa quietly replied. "Can we change the subject? I don't like to talk about this, we both lost our families and friends in that fire."

"I'm sorry," Jessie said, deciding to put an end to her questions for now. She had all the answers she needed now, anyway. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's not your fault." Tifa breathed in a little shakily as she tried to get rid of those old feelings. "What about you, Jessie? Where are you from?"

Jessie's mouth instantly thinned into a small line, this was not a subject she wanted to discuss, especially here. However, after dragging up bad memories of Tifa's, she owed it to the other girl to explain her own past.

"Actually, I was born and raised here in Junon."

"Oh really, so this is your hometown, huh?"

"Yeah. My dad was an engineer for the Empire. Me and my mom ran a little store in the city."

"That sounds nice." Tifa said cheerily, trying to negate her momentary depression.

"It was." Jessie nodded. "Then one day, dad burst into the store with a wound on his shoulder, bleeding really bad. He said he'd been working in the airship hangar when he'd overheard some guys in suits arguing with some engineer named Cid about a new prototype airship he was building. I never did find out exactly what it was dad heard, but apparently he wasn't supposed to know about any of it. A soldier had chased him and managed to cut his arm, but he got away and ran to the store. Mom started trying to bandage his arm, and told me to go find a doctor."

Tifa began to speak up, the sadness on her face even worse now as she heard this story, but Jessie raised a hand to stop her. She'd said this much, she might as well finish; besides, she'd severed many of her emotions long ago, things like death and murder just didn't bother her much anymore.

"I ran out the back door to get help, and I was less than a block away when I heard these loud sounds coming from the store. I hurried back, and I could see a guy and a girl in blue suits leaving the store. I hid behind a garbage bin until they were gone, but then, just when I stood up to go inside, the whole building exploded."

Sighing, Jessie leaned her head back against the rock, but no pain or sorrow showed on her features; her tears for her parents and what had happened to them had dried up long ago.

"I was only thirteen when it happened. I was scared that they would come for me too, so I got on a boat and headed west. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care, I just knew I had to run. I wound up in Costa Del Sol, and I turned into a shop lifter for a little while to get by. That's how I met this girl, and after I told her about what happened to my parents, she introduced me to Barret, who was nearby at the time. That's how I got involved with Avalanche, and why I started hating the Empire."

"I'm sorry, Jessie." Tifa said with tears forming in her eyes. "That's just so awful."

"Yeah." Jessie agreed with no emotion in her voice. "But there's no reason to cry over it. It was a long time ago, and I've gotten over it. All I care about now is paying them back for what they've done to the world."

Tifa was about to try and comfort her regardless of what she said, but was interrupted by the faint sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. She motioned for Jessie to stay quiet as she slowly lifted her head and looked over the rocks they were sitting behind. Luckily, they were in no danger, and a deep sigh of relief left her as she saw Cloud jogging towards them.

"There you are," Jessie said as he reached them. "What took you so long?"

"The city is crawling with troops." Cloud shook his head in frustration. "We didn't get here soon enough, Rufus arrived earlier today, and they're throwing a huge parade for him before he sets sail for Costa Del Sol."

"What are we going to do then?" Tifa asked.

"I managed to find a nice set of back alleys that are more or less deserted thanks to the parade. We're going to get to the docks, stow away on Rufus' ship, and I'll approach him when I have a safe enough opening to talk to him."

"That's insane!" Jessie said in utter disbelief. "You can't just sneak onto Rufus' own ship!"

"Trust me." Cloud said without hesitation. "I know what I'm doing. Now come on, we have to hurry."

* * *

Lieutenant General Zahn had watched the grand parade that had been thrown for Rufus from the comfort of the military lounge that overlooked much of the city's main street. As he sipped at a cup of coffee, he couldn't help but wonder if such fanfare would be occurring if the citizens and soldiers here knew even half of the things he'd been able to discover. As he pondered this thought, a soldier marched up next to him. 

"Sir," The soldier said as he snapped to attention and saluted. "The guard positioning on the pier has been modified to your specifications."

"Very good soldier." Zahn said. "Dismissed."

"Yes sir." The soldier saluted again and began to walk away before hesitating.

"Is there something else?" Zahn asked, instantly noting the mans behavior.

"Permission to speak freely sir?" The soldier requested.

"Granted."

"It's the placement you ordered, sir." The soldier said, looking nervous for having brought it up. "There's a gap in security that could allow intruders to slip through one of the alleys and board the Emperors ship."

"Don't let it concern you." Zahn said, keeping his voice even, though he was surprised the soldier had noticed the security flaw. "We need as many soldiers as we can spare to be at the parade, security there is much more important. Besides that, the Emperors ship has a compliment of guards and a seasoned staff. They won't allow anyone to sneak on board."

"Yes sir." The soldier said, his tone of voice revealing that Zahn's explanation had been more than satisfactory. "I apologize if I stepped out of line."

"Quite all right." Zahn assured him. "Now, dismissed."

Again the soldier saluted before exiting the lounge. Lieutenant General Zahn stared after him for a moment before walking to the other side of the large room where the windows looked down over the pier rather than the city streets. He had been honest, of course. Soldiers were needed more at the parade than at the docks, and Rufus' ship had more than enough guards on board to deal with any stowaways. What he hadn't mentioned, however, was that many of those guards were far more loyal to him than they were to General Heidegger or the Divine Emperor.

A smile crossed Zahn's face as he spotted three figures emerging from the alley that he had left unguarded. He watched them for several minutes as they snuck across the pier, hiding for cover with expert precision thanks to the spiky blond haired man who was leading them. As the trio slipped into the cargo hold of Rufus' ship, completely undetected thanks to the preparations he'd made, Zahn finished his cup of coffee and turned away from the windows.

He had done all that he could for now. The rest was up to fate.

* * *

There was very little lighting in the cargo hold of the Holy Shinra Imperial Navy's _Gloriosa_. Barrels, crates, and boxes of various things heading for the tropical paradise of Costa Del Sol were stacked everywhere in the dank and musty chamber. As the waves of the ocean rocked the ship, one barrel tipped over and rolled across a path between the stacks, narrowly missing both a scurrying rat, and the one person who was in the cargo hold. The man, who wore the standard blue armor and helmet of the Imperial Army, walked quietly through the darkness, making his way to a row of rather large crates. Looking around to make sure no one was here, he stepped up to one of the crates and knocked on it twice before pushing the lid back. 

As Cloud Strife removed the helmet that hid his identity, Tifa's head popped up out of the open crate and one of her hands instantly went to her neck for a much needed massage.

"Please tell me we're almost there." Jessie groaned as she lifted herself up from the crate as well. She and Tifa had been cramped in that crate for hours now, only broken by visits from Cloud as he checked on them and brought food.

"It's your lucky day." Replied Cloud, whose in depth knowledge of the Shinra Army had allowed him to walk around in the open without anyone suspecting him of foul play. "We're just off the coast now. They're preparing to dock."

"I wouldn't say that anything about this is lucky," Tifa chimed in. "But at least it's almost over."

"We'll have just enough time to get above deck and talk to Rufus before he leaves the boat and if something goes wrong, we can jump over and swim to the shore."

"You're really going through with this, then?" Jessie asked, her voice going cold. "You're actually going to confront Rufus himself?"

"I've come this far, haven't I?"

"It's stupid, Cloud! It won't solve anything; it'll just get us caught!"

"I have to hear it from his own mouth. I have to know if he's innocent of all of this or not."

"But it's crazy!"

"Most of the things I do are, so it's no big deal." Cloud shrugged and began walking back the way he'd come.

Jessie looked to Tifa, her eyes pleading for help with the insane man, but the other girl just shook her head.

"Once he's set his mind on something that he feels he has to do, he won't stop for anything."

"Even if it means death?" Jessie bluntly asked.

"He's done a lot of stupid things before and he's never died. I don't think he plans on breaking that tradition now."

Tifa began following after Cloud, but for a moment Jessie just stood there staring at them.

"I'm not worried about him dying." She muttered under her breath. She knew that if he was the one she thought he was, then he'd be fine. "I'm worried about us."

Grabbing her belt of explosives, she hurried after the two of them. This was suicide, plain and simple. Yet, she knew she had to go with them. If she was right, Cloud was too important to let him do this on his own, and maybe if she tagged along, she might be able to save him from getting in over his head. She only hoped that this wouldn't turn out to be the worst decision she'd ever made.

* * *

An elaborately decorated platform was assembled at the stern of the HSIN _Gloriosa_. From this platform, the Emperor would address the people of Costa Del Sol as the massive ship docked so that they would not crowd him. He stood there now, behind a pulpit bearing the Imperial mark, facing rows of sailors and soldiers on the ship. He wore what had become his standard garb, a white trench coat with a white jacket over top of it, interspersed with the occasional black, which gave him a rather stylish look that caused him to stand out from most others in the Imperial government. With his orangish-blond hair parted and styled so that his bangs hung down to the sides of his face and over his eyes, the Emperor appeared just as he had seventy-eight years ago when he had first returned from the dead to lead humanity to peace. Rufus Shinra was as youthful as he had ever been. 

Standing on each side of Rufus were two others. There was a bald man with a goatee and dark sunglasses who stood tall and imposing, with his hands folded behind his back. The other was much thinner and had bright red hair that was a spiky and long mess, tied into a tail in the back. The two men both wore the blue suits and black ties of the Turks, but in different ways; the bald man, who was known only as Rude, wore his perfectly maintained, while the red-head, called Reno, was an unkempt mess. Aside from these two guards, the only other living thing on the platform was a dark blue furred, cat-like creature that sat at Rufus' side. Standing at waist height, the Emperor's pet, Kuro Koka, was a rather intimidating creature.

As his subjects stood at attention and watched him in adoration, Rufus stepped up to the pulpit and placed his hands on the edges.

"Loyal soldiers of the Holy Shinra Empire," he said, his voice soothing and strong at the same time as it carried to all those gathered on the ship. "Among all those in our lands, you are my most valued subjects. You who risk your lives to defend the ideas of peace and world unity that I hold dear; you have my utmost respect. My peace keepers, together we shall one day lead this world into a new era that will be devoid of war! As this part of my pilgrimage ends, I will bid you farewell, but know that you have my deepest thanks for assisting me in this endeavor. Return to your homes and daily lives with my blessings, thank you!"

As Rufus stepped back from the pulpit, cheers erupted from the ranks. Unfortunately, now that the Emperor's brief pep talk was finished, docking procedures had to be resumed, and the applause died down as the commanding officers quickly broke the crowd up and sent them back to their duties. As the men and women filed out of the area, Rufus and his escort were left alone, but Rude didn't let that drop his guard. While Rufus turned to speak with Reno about something, Rude scanned the deck through his dark shades, stopping as he spotted movement behind a row of crates near the ships railing. Watching closely, he saw something spiky and yellow briefly poke above a large box.

_A chocobo?_ Rude thought at first, but then watched as a young man with oddly styled hair steped out into the open.

"A stowaway." Reno said as he saw the man too and reached for the materia gun in his jacket pocket.

"Wait," Rufus said, stepping forward and looking to the man who now stood there waiting in silence. "I don't believe this."

"What?" Reno impatiently inquired.

Rufus stepped past the two Turks and motioned towards the man, who slowly walked to them, bowing his head down low as he reached the Emperor.

"Cloud Strife." Rufus said in astonishment. "Now what are you doing here?"

Cloud lifted his head, his bright blue eyes widening in shock at what he had just heard.

"You know my name?" He asked in surprise.

"Oh, I know a great deal about you, Cloud." Rufus chuckled, his voice cool and collected. "I also know that you should be in Midgar, not on this boat."

"Yeah." Taken back by Rufus' words, Cloud attempted to focus and explain what was going on. "Emperor, I've recently become aware of terrible things that are being done in the capital by Imperial agents."

"Oh? And what sort of things would these be?"

"I saw scientists in an Imperial building feeding processed mako into creatures that resembled demons." Cloud then looked to Rufus' two escorts. "As well as corruption within the Turks. I had to find you and learn the truth behind these things."

"So you've seen demons in our facilities, have you?" Rufus managed half a smile. "Yes. We've captured some in secrecy and are researching them to learn of their origin, and weaknesses."

"That's not what I witnessed, Emperor." Cloud said as a terrible feeling began to grow in the pit of his stomach. "Me and my friend were spotted, and the scientists unleashed one of those creatures on us. The building was destroyed as we fled, so I couldn't investigate further, but they were enhancing those things, not studying them."

"Branch Seven." Rufus' brows furrowed as Cloud's words fell in line with the report Scarlet had sent him. "So you were involved in its destruction."

"Not intentionally." Cloud said as the feeling that something was wrong became worse.

"This is most unfortunate." Rufus said as he shook his head in disappointment. "You weren't meant to learn about any of these things so soon. You aren't ready to understand the reasons behind it all."

Cloud seemed to grow pale at those words, horror filling his eyes as he stared at the Emperor in stunned disbelief.

"Then, it's true?" Cloud barely managed to whisper as Barret's words came back to haunt him. "The Empire is working with the demons?"

A heavy sigh left the Emperor's lips, and in an instant his persona altered. Gone was the peaceful face of hope, replaced by the frustrated expression of a man who had no patience for the current discussion.

"Not precisely, no. Unfortunately the _truth_ is far beyond your ability to comprehend at this point, and I'm afraid that I haven't the time to educate you on its intricacies right now."

Snapping his fingers, Rufus signaled Reno and Rude, who stepped towards Cloud.

"We'll have to talk about this more in the future." Rufus told him. "For now, Reno and Rude will detain you until you can be returned to Midgar where you can be placed in our care."

Speechless, Cloud said nothing as the two Turks began approaching him from opposite sides. Rufus started to turn, but was cut off by an object that landed on the ground next to Reno's foot.

"Grenade!" Rude shouted, but it was too late. The device exploded into bright, blinding light as the entire group shielded their eyes. There were sounds of scuffling as precious seconds were wasted due to their impaired vision, and when the light died down, Cloud Strife was gone.

Reno immediately ran to the edge of the boat and peered over at the water below, where large ripples indicated that the man had dove in.

"Flash grenade." Rude said as he knelt and picked at the debris left behind. "It didn't come from the man, though. He must have had others with him."

"So it would seem," said Rufus as he fixed his hair and dusted his clothing off.

"I'm sorry, sir." Rude said as Reno returned to them. "There was nothing we could do."

"No apologies needed." Rufus replied as he waved off several sailors who were running to them. "Even if you could have stopped them, the fault does not lay with you. It was not your responsibility to keep an eye on my little pet."

"What do we do now?" Reno asked.

"We continue on, at the moment he is not as significant as he once was, now that one of the spell orbs has made its presence known. Even still, if Hojo's theory was correct Cloud may be drawn to _him_. We can't afford to have them join forces."

"I understand." Rude nodded.

"However, it would be a shame to lose such a powerful soldier." Rufus mused as he rubbed his fingertips over his chin in thought. "Send word to the local authorities; I want Cloud and his friends brought back to Midgar, preferably unharmed, but if they cannot be captured easily, then have them killed. We can't allow them to make contact with that traitor."

"I'll see to it," Rude said as he briskly walked away.

"As for you," Rufus spoke to Reno. "Return to Midgar and explain to Professor Hojo that I am incredibly _disappointed _with his incompetence."

"Right." Reno smirked. "I'll get the message through."

As Reno left, Rufus walked to the edge of the platform and looked out at the cheering citizens gathered on the nearing docks. At his side, Kuro growled with animalistic anger, but a pat on the head from the Emperor calmed the beast down.

"That's twice you've failed to keep this situation under control, Hojo." Rufus whispered to the air. "For your sake, I hope things are quickly contained this time."

* * *

As expected, things had gone terribly wrong. Despite Cloud's hopes, Jessie had been right. All his plans had collapsed the moment he spoke to Rufus, and now they were in grave danger. After she had saved the insane man with one of the flash grenades that she'd readied for just such an occasion, Jessie had drug him over the edge of the boat along with Tifa, and together they had swam to the beaches of Costa Del Sol. Knowing that the local authorities would soon be after them, she had led them into the tropical regions jungles in the hopes of finding sanctuary. 

So far Cloud hadn't spoken; his encounter with the Emperor seemed to have stunned him into silence, and only his instincts for survival kept him going right now. Tifa had been relatively quiet as well. She was probably worrying about her friend's state of mind; though after several minutes of madly rushing into the jungle depths, she decided to speak up.

"Where are we heading?"

"Somewhere safe," Jessie responded as she glanced at a compass she had on her wrist. "We have to get away from the city as quickly as possible."

"Do you even know where you're going in here?" Tifa questioned as she looked around at the massive amount of trees and plants brimming with animal and insect life.

"More or less," Jessie honestly replied. "It's been a while, but I think I remember the way through."

The sound of rushing water began to grow loud in their ears, and Jessie veered to lead them towards the sound, knowing now that they were on the right path. After a short time, they came to a clearing where a river ended with a small, crystal clear water fall that cascaded down into a large pond some thirty feet below them. Jessie stopped only long enough to spot a downed tree trunk that would serve as their bridge across the river, still here after all these years.

"Be careful." She said as she stepped up onto the wide trunk. "It can be pretty slippery."

"Is this the safest way over?" Tifa asked, sounding rather doubtful of the dead tree's stability.

"Afraid so!" Jessie shouted from halfway across.

"Okay then," Tifa sighed and looked to Cloud, who nodded to her to show that he was still with them.

Jessie reached the other side as Tifa and Cloud were midway there, and turned to wave them on for encouragement when she saw trouble approaching.

"Look out!" She yelled as a low level lightning spell shot past Tifa's head, narrowly missing its target.

Thrown off balance by the proximity of the dangerous spell to her face, Tifa lost her footing and slipped off the edge, falling towards the river waters. Now finding himself in a position where he had no choice but to respond, Cloud went into action. Grabbing Tifa's wrist as she fell, he slammed his sword into the tree and held onto it for balance as the girl's weight jerked him to the side. Tifa crashed into the water, nearly pulling Cloud in with her, but his grip on both her hand his sword remained firm, stopping her from being pulled towards the falls.

Unclipping a grenade from her belt, Jessie hurled it at the Shinra soldier who had cast the spell. The man tried to duck away, but his scream as the grenade exploded was proof enough that he hadn't done so in time. Unfortunately, he had been accompanied by three more soldiers. Jessie pulled another grenade out, but knew that she couldn't get all of them before at least one would hit her with a spell, and neither Cloud nor Tifa could do anything thanks to their current predicament.

As Jessie prepared to launch her grenade, and the soldiers began chanting spell words, three quick flashes of light appeared and zipped through the air. With quiet sounds the flashes reached the soldiers, and the trio men went quiet as their bodies jerked.

"What the hell?" Jessie said in confusion as she watched the soldiers fall to the ground, only then seeing the gleaming metal of four-pointed shuriken protruding from each of their throats. Such a weapon was not common in the Empire, but she knew of a few people who used them. Turning towards the trees behind her, Jessie was startled to see a young, olive toned girl drop down from the branches and land less than ten feet away. The girl was anything but ordinary looking. She was clad in a relatively tight suit that consisted of tan pants puffed slightly at the edges of dark brown boots, and a deep green vest that was tied tightly at the center and crossed with pocket laden straps. A tan mask covered the lower half of her face, and a bandanna with a small metal plate on the front of it was barely visible beneath her short, black bangs.

Even with the mask, Jessie knew who the girl was immediately, but there was no time for greetings just yet. Turning back towards the river, she saw that her friend's situation had grown no better, and the current was starting to make Cloud lose his grip on both Tifa and his sword. Quickly, she began looking around for some way to help them without endangering herself and them even more, but learned that there was no need for that. The shuriken throwing girl stepped past her, pulling one of the pouches on her belts and straps open as she did so to withdraw a thin, but very strong and long line of wire with a retractable grappling hook on the end of it. With a few quick twirls, the girl threw the line and hooked it to a limb on the tree trunk just next to Cloud's hand with amazing precision. After two quick but fierce tugs to check the stability of the line, the girl side stepped to bring it over Tifa's head. Obviously happy for the help, Tifa latched onto the line with her free hand, and then with her other as Cloud released her. As Tifa's strength allowed her to pull herself up the line to the river bank, Cloud found his balance on the trunk again and made his way carefully to the other side before rushing over to make sure his childhood friend.

"Are you alright?" He quickly asked as he looked her over for injuries.

"I'm okay, Cloud." She said, smiling as best she could while she shivered from the cold of the water. "Just a little wet."

With the crisis momentarily averted, Jessie suddenly lunged at the mysterious girl and caught her in a tight hug.

"Yuffie!" Jessie sounded absolutely giddy with excitement. "You have no idea how good it is to see you!"

Widening her deep brown, slightly slanted eyes at the sudden embrace, Yuffie patted her on the back.

"Oh I think I do," she said with just the slightest of accents. "Seeing that you would have been captured if I hadn't been here!"

"Jessie, who is this?" Cloud said, eyeing the young Wutain girl with rather obvious distrust.

"Oh," Jessie muttered as she saw the hateful look in Clouds eyes. "Don't worry, she's a friend. This is Yuffie Kasaragi, apprentice to Master Sakaguchi, and a special agent for the Republic of Wutai."

Jessie's comments didn't calm the young man down, and in fact only made things worse. It was hardly unexpected, even after all he'd seen in recent times to make him realize that the Empire was corrupt; a life time of being taught that Wutai was evil wasn't something that was easy to forget.

"Actually," Yuffie continued in a quiet voice, ignoring Cloud's stares in favor of her friend. "Master Sakaguchi is no longer with us. He was…captured while infiltrating a Shinra facility. I have not seen him since."

"Oh," Jessie's giddy tone died instantly, replaced by a pained face and a solemn voice. "I'm sorry. I know he meant a lot to you."

"Yes," Yuffie acknowledged. "But it was over two years ago. I have no more time for sentiments. I have now been bestowed the full title of assassin, and this region is my responsibility."

"Wait," Tifa spoke up as she remembered something, and because she wanted to try to settle down the anger that Yuffie's words were stirring in Cloud. "Jessie, didn't you say you met some one in Costa Del Sol who brought you and Barret together?"

"Oh, yeah." Jessie said, realizing that she hadn't explained how she knew Yuffie. "Well, back when I stealing food in the city to survive, I met Yuffie."

"I was fourteen at the time." The Wutain nodded. "Back then I had been assigned to gather intelligence, and sabotage Imperial projects in the area. I was mostly a thief, stealing plans and information from the local authorities that might have things to do with the Empire's genetics projects."

"Wutai knows about all that?" Cloud said, the anger seeping away as that revelation hit him dead on.

"Yes," Yuffie said as she finally reached up and pulled down her mask, revealing an adorable face, hardly befitting of some one as deadly as she obviously was. "We have known about Rufus' projects for many years. It is one of the reasons we oppose him and his Empire."

"Damn it," Cloud growled. "Did everyone except me know about this?"

"It is not very common knowledge." Yuffie stated. "Not even within Wutai. The full extent of Rufus' deeds would be too much for the public to handle, so it is mostly kept quiet. Our people are only informed of enough of his actions to ensure that they will not be wooed by his sweet tongue."

"That's why we're always told that Wutai is evil, isn't it?" Tifa said, putting it together. "To stop us from seeing things from your perspective."

"One of the reasons, yes." Yuffie acknowledged. "Now that you know of me, may I ask who the two of you are?"

"Oh, sorry." Jessie laughed a little and rubbed the back of her head. "I forgot. This is Tifa Lockheart, and Cloud Strife. Unfortunate circumstances forced them to fight with Avalanche, and now we're on the run."

"From the Imperials? Why would they chase you so far?"

"Because of me." Cloud said quietly. "I was a Special Ops soldier, and I couldn't accept all of this so easily. I wanted to ask the Emperor about it, so Jessie came with us to help. Now Rufus wants me returned to Midgar, so we're running."

"So you're the ones who tried to assassinate him!" Yuffie said, her eyes going wide again. "One of my sources contacted me about it not long before I found you here!"

"Assassinate?" Tifa said in shock. "We didn't do anything, Cloud just talked to him!"  
"The flash grenade," Jessie groaned. "They must have told the authorities that it was an actual weapon."

"It makes sense." Cloud sighed. "If the Army was told that we tried to kill Rufus, they'll be much more intent on finding us."

"They want you alive, you know." Yuffie said, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Why would Rufus himself complicate things by demanding such a thing when it would be so much easier to just kill you all?"

"Because Cloud is important to him." Jessie said, looking Yuffie dead in the eyes as she spoke. "That's why I've come to you. I need to take him to see the General."

"The General," Yuffie breathed out in total shock, her eyes darting from Jessie to Cloud quickly. Noticing the odd glow in the man's eyes for the first time, her own eyes grew wide. "Is this the one?"

"What?" Cloud asked, his features contorting in confusion. "What are you talking about? Who's this 'General'? Jessie, what the hell are you not telling me!"

"I'm not the one who can explain it, Cloud, but you'll find out soon enough." Turning back to Yuffie, Jessie continued. "If Master Sakaguchi is gone, can I assume you are the guardian now?"

"I am," Yuffie said, still staring at Cloud in bewilderment. "I can take you to him if you want."

"Let's go right away then." Jessie said. "Before more soldiers come after us."

"Right." Yuffie nodded as she broke her stare, straightened herself back up, and turned to begin walking towards the jungle trees. "Follow me then."

Jessie started after her immediately, but Cloud and Tifa hung back for a moment. The blond man looked to his friend, both of them with worry on their faces. After all they had discovered that they hadn't wished to know, there was still apparently much more to the puzzle, and now it seemed that it personally involved them. They couldn't help but feel that things had just taken an even greater turn for the worst than before.

* * *

Blistering heat and a relentless sun beat down upon the desert wasteland that made up a large portion of this continent. Sand and barren rock stretched out for as far as the eye could see, not a drop of water or plant life in sight. It was unreal that such a place existed so close to the jungles of Costa Del Sol. They had ridden here on the backs of chocobos that Yuffie had 'obtained' for them from a local rental company. Each of their birds had been outfitted with as much water as they could carry so that they wouldn't die of thirst on their trip. 

They had been riding at a steady pace for over five hours now, and Yuffie was the only one of them that wasn't absolutely miserable; it seemed as if she was used to this sort of travel. Cloud and Tifa had tried many times to find out where they were heading, and who it was they were going to see, but neither Jessie nor Yuffie would tell them; they merely said that it would all be revealed soon. Now, at last, it seemed as if it might be time for such revelations. Stopping her chocobo with a tug of its reigns, Yuffie brought them to a halt as she held her right hand up, holding some sort of metal and stone device in her palm. A few incoherent words were muttered, and a strange ripple exploded from the stone, traveling through the air.

"What is she doing?" Tifa asked.

There was no need for anyone to answer, as both Cloud and Tifa saw the effect of the ripple with their own eyes. As the wave extended, an entire city appeared before them, the gates of which were no more than a hundred feet away. The two of them watched as the ripple eventually vanished after revealing the entire hidden city, a place built of stone and steel that rose out of the wasteland rocks. Although much of the city seemed new, albeit run down from the desert atmosphere, many sections of the walls, and some of the buildings were obviously very old and decrepit.

"What the hell is this?" Cloud asked in bewilderment of the hidden city. "It's like some one built a new city on top of ruins."

"Very perceptive of you," Yuffie said. "Welcome to the Outlaw City."

"The Outlaw City?" Cloud spat out, knowing full well the rumors of this place that had grown to mythic proportions in just a few short years. "You mean that story is true?"

"Yeah." Jessie nodded. "This is the place, built on top of the ruins of Corel."

"Wasn't that the city Barret was from?" Tifa blinked in surprise. "The one he told Cloud about?"

"Yes." Yuffie answered. "These were the ruins of Barret's hometown. The dead city, and the wasteland that extends for miles around it, were the result of Shinra and their demons."

Cloud stared at the place in a mixture of worry and reverence. Were he not seeing it with his own eyes, he would never believe it truly existed. The rumors and stories of an "Outlaw City" had started a few years ago; according to various reports, it was a place where criminals and traitors to the Empire fled to in order to escape the Army. Of course, the existence of such a place had never been confirmed, and aside from the numerous criminals per year who were never brought to justice, there was no validity to such rumors. Now that they were here, and now that Cloud had learned so many things about the Empire he hadn't previously known, he instantly put the pieces together.

"It's a hideout for people who know the truth, isn't it?" he asked, looking to Jessie. "For people like us, who know about the Empire secrets, and are being hunted down."

"You're on top of things today." Jessie said in response. "Yeah, that's the truth of the 'Outlaw City'. It's populated by anyone who learned the truth and managed to get away with their lives. People like us in Avalanche, and Yuffie from Wutai find them and bring them here."

"The stone." Cloud said to Yuffie. "The one you just used, it's some sort of talisman that reveals the city to the people who have it in their possession."

"It is." Yuffie replied as she placed the device back into one of her pockets. "This desert is enveloped in a spell that disorients anyone who enters it so that they cannot find their way here to this city, or back to rest of the continent. The city itself is cloaked by magic so that no one can see it even if they manage to get here by foot, or fly over head with airships. Both spells are necessary to keep the city safe from the Empire."

"Only people who have a guide like you can get here?" Tifa asked.

"Yes, and only when I leave can anyone exit the city. Anyone coming to or going from this place must be accompanied by a guardian like me."

With a snap of the reigns, Yuffie resumed her chocobo's walk towards the city gates, and the others did the same. As they neared, the gates opened outward with rusty creaks, being pushed by a number of men. When they reached the entrance, another man stepped out to meet them. He dressed in shades of blue and gray; a button up shirt with short sleeves, a loose pair of shorts that extended to his knees, and leather work boots. Everything he wore was a little torn up, which was to be expected in this harsh place. While he wasn't exceptionally tall, he was fairly well muscled, and carried an air of authority around him.

"How ya doing Yuffie?" The man asked as he scratched at his scalp through short, messy, brown hair. "Bringing us some newbies?"

"You could say that," Yuffie answered as she slid down from her chocobo and let one of the men from the gates take it into the city.

"Well, I'm no newbie." Jessie said with mock resentment in her voice. "Come on Jeran, don't you recognize me?"

"Is that," the man named Jeran squinted his eyes at her, seemingly concentrating very hard. "Jessie? Jessie Brooks?"

"No other." She smirked as she dropped down from her chocobo as well.

"No way! Man you've grown since I saw you last time!"

"Yep, and I've become pretty good at blowing things up too."

"Always good to know!" Jeran laughed, looking past her as Cloud and Tifa dismounted. "And who are these two? Friends of yours?"

"Yeah," Jessie said, coming back to the subject at hand. "This is Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart."

Cloud watched as Jeran stepped forward and shook Tifa's hand, feeling no small amount of envy before the offer was extended towards him. As he reached out and shook the man's hand as well, he looked him over with a thoughtful expression. There was something about the way the man looked, and acted that made Cloud think of something; his mannerisms and the way he moved were definitely familiar.

"You used to be a Turk." He said to the man. "Right?"

Jeran blinked in surprise, looking to Jessie and Yuffie as if wordlessly asking them if they'd told this boy earlier on, but both girls shook their heads.

"I was. Actually, I was the director for a little under a year."

"You were Tseng's predecessor?"

"Heh," Jeran chuckled humorlessly. "Tseng was my apprentice, actually."

"Why are you here, then?" Tifa asked. "The Turks are in on the Empire's corruption."

"Not all of them." Jeran shook his head. "See, there are two sides of the Turks. There's a public side, and those agents are pretty much in the dark about all the really bad stuff going on. Then there's the other side, which is unofficially called Division Two. The agents there pose as regular Turks, but aren't actually under the authority of the director."

"So, Tseng isn't part of this?"

"I doubt it. I left the Turks and fled here because I learned about Division Two and all the dirty little secrets they have. They told everyone I was a traitor, and that's when they promoted Tseng. The regular Turks aren't exactly without their sins. They're an intelligence agency after all, and they do a lot of things that might be wrong in order to keep the Empire safe. Tseng may seem like a cold guy because of that, but he believes he's doing the right thing. If he knew the truth, he wouldn't want to have any part in it."

"At least I wasn't only one left out of the loop." Cloud said in an agitated tone. "So if Tseng isn't in charge of this Division Two, who is?"

"Well, Tseng is led to believe he's in charge so that he doesn't realize they're doing other work on the side. The guys who really call the shots are Reno and Rude, and they report directly to Rufus."

"Those are the two who were with Rufus on the boat, Cloud" Jessie added.

"I take it from your knowledge that you were with the military?" Jeran asked.

"Yeah. Special Operations in Sector Seven of Midgar."

"Nice." Jeran nodded, obviously impressed. "Tough position to get. You must have some skill in you."

"Not enough to let me see past the Empire's bull---- until I was thrown right into the middle of it."

"Don't worry about it kid. That's how it happened to all of us." Jeran sympathized. Then, turning back to Yuffie and Jessie he asked, "Alright, so what brings you guys out here? I'm guessing you're not just paying a friendly visit?"

"Far from it." Jessie answered. "I brought Cloud here to meet the General."

"This guy?" Jeran looked back at Cloud with doubt in his voice. "He doesn't meet with just anybody, you know. What reason am I supposed to give him for this meeting?"

"Just tell him that Avalanche found someone in Midgar that he'd be interested in talking to. He'll give you the okay, trust me."

Jessie's words created more questions in Cloud's mind, but seemed to answer a few in Jeran's, who nodded his approval.

"Alright then. I'll go tell him and try to set up a meeting. Why don't you guys head over to the bar, and I'll come get you there?"

"Sounds like a plan," Yuffie said.

As Jeran walked away, Yuffie began heading towards a run down building that was marked as a bar by the large beer mug signpost that looked as if it was about to fall down from over the doorway. The rest of the party followed after her without a word, but Cloud didn't exactly feel like getting drunk and having a good time in these conditions.

* * *

Outlaw City's bar, appropriately named 'Runaways Rum', was a filthy little hole shoveled in between two housing complexes. The state of this place made Tifa's poor little bar in Midgar seem like a country club; it was a bit run down, to say the least. They had been here for over an hour now, split into two groups. Jessie and Yuffie sat at the bar itself, conversing with some of the other patrons and generally seeming to have a good time. Cloud and Tifa, on the other hand, sat in a booth in one of the corners, watching everyone in the building with a suspicious eye. The numerous questions that their friend and guide refused to answer had begun to worry them; were Jessie and Yuffie really trying to help them, or were they as full of lies and manipulation as the Empire was?

"What are we going to do, Cloud?" Tifa sighed. "We came out here so we could find out what the Emperor had to say. Now we have, and it wasn't what either of us wanted to hear. So what now?"

"I don't know." He answered with brutal honesty. "I don't know anything right now. I wish Zach was here, he'd always have an idea."

"Zach," Tifa whispered, the pain in her voice clearly apparent. "Before he died, he said 'make it right'."

"He wanted us to put a stop to all the lies. That's what he'd do if he was still alive." He said quietly. "But how are we supposed to do that? There are only two of us, what can we possibly hope to accomplish against the entire Empire?"

"Maybe that's why Jessie brought us here," Tifa offered. "Maybe we can do something here that will make a difference."

"I don't know what to think of this place, or Jessie right now, for that matter."

"Yeah, I know."

"It doesn't make any sense. She was never secretive until we met Yuffie. Something big is going on, and for some reason she doesn't want to tell us about it."

"Look," Tifa nodded to the bar, where Jeran had returned and was speaking to the two girls. "Seems like something's up."

The trio made their way to the booth as Cloud and Tifa watched them. Jeran had apparently been elected spokesman for the little group, because he was the one who actually stepped up and started talking.

"The meeting's set up." He said to Cloud. "Time to go."

"Really? I'm not sure if I want to, I mean, it's so nice in this place."

"This is serious." Jessie said with annoyance at the way Cloud was acting. "Just go with him."

"I'm not letting him go without me." Tifa protested.

"I was only told to bring him," Jeran denied the girls demand. "You can stay here while we're gone."

"Don't worry, Tifa." Yuffie tried to sooth her. "Nothing bad is going to happen."

Cloud wasn't happy about any of this, but he also knew that it was pointless to resist. There was an entire city full of people here; they could overpower him with little effort, if they wanted to. For now, he would just have to go along with it all and hope that this wasn't some sort of cruel trick.

"It's alright." He said to Tifa. "I might as well see what this is all about."

"But Cloud.." Tifa started as the blond stood up.

"I'll try not to be gone long." He said. "Everything is going to be fine."

Jeran motioned for him to follow, and the two walked across the bar, leaving the girls behind as they stepped into the sand strewn streets outside. Neither man said a word as they walked side by side, though Cloud definitely noticed that everyone they passed cleared out of their way and stared at them. To his surprise they had barely walked two blocks from the bar when Jeran turned towards a crumbling building. It seemed to be one of the original structures of old Corel and, from what he could see on the outside, seemed to have been largely left alone to the 'renovations' that had been brought to the ruined city.

They entered the dusty structure and walked through a few rooms before Cloud spotted a rather obvious fake wall near the end of the hallway they were currently in; he could even see the hinges showing from behind an old tattered tapestry that some one had hung up to conceal it. The false wall confused him to no end; what was the point in it when the city itself was already hidden this well? Beyond that, it wasn't even well disguised. If Shinra soldiers were to ever find this place, did these 'Outlaws' really expect them to not see something that noticeable? His haughty attitude collapsed, though, when Jeran stopped on their way to the "hidden" door and turned to face the solid wall to his right. Raising his right hand up in front of the wall, the former Turk drew some strange pattern on it with his fingertips, and the wall itself vanished as if it had never existed. As Cloud looked into the room behind the wall, he found himself amazed at his own stupidity, and the intelligence of this design. Clearly, the obvious door was a fake, and now that he saw how truly well concealed the real door was, he imagined that whoever headed down the door at the end of the hall would be faced with certain death, or at the very least, a great deal of pain.

Jeran pulled Cloud into the room rather quickly and the wall behind them reappeared, shutting them into darkness until the man lit a torch that was placed on a wall to their left. The flickering flame danced across the room and Cloud had to catch his breath from what he saw. Everywhere he looked he saw weapons. Rows of swords, spears, armor, and just about everything else he could think of. There were even entire shelves filled with unused material orbs; the room was a hidden weapons cache' large enough to supply a small army. Cloud didn't have much time to think about it, though, as Jeran had already walked across the room to pull up a trap door that was in one of the back corners, revealing a dark hole with a ladder leading down. Cloud found himself in awe of the lengths that had been taken to assure secrecy here. A false door, a magically hidden room filled with weapons, and now a ladder descending into the depths? Who or what could possibly be this important to hide?

"Come on," Jeran said as he motioned for Cloud to head down first.

Doing as told, Cloud began descending the ladder, followed by Jeran who lowered the trap door back down overtop of them as they headed down. The ladder itself took them at least twenty feet beneath the surface, and opened into a long tunnel that was adorned with torches every few feet. Nearly thirty feet down, barely illuminated from this distance by the various flames, stood a large set of wooden double doors, carved with elegant designs; to say that it looked foreboding would be a severe understatement.

Together, he and Jeran walked down the tunnel, the heavy wooden doors coming more into focus as they went. When they actually arrived at them, Jeran stopped, prompting Cloud to stop as well and look to him.

"Let me ask you a question." Jeran said to him, breaking the uneasy silence.

"Okay..." Cloud drew the word out slowly, wondering what he was going to talk about.

"Say you knew someone who had done something awful to you, but they weren't in their right mind when it happened." Jeran raised an eyebrow. "Would you hate them for what they did?"

"I don't know." His forehead creased as he stared at the former Turk. That had been a strange question. "I guess it would depend on the full circumstances."

"Fair enough." Jeran nodded, apparently satisfied by that response. "Now here's another one for you. What if that same person later turned out to be some one you had to work with? Let's say it was the only person alive who might be able to help you change the world. Could you put the past behind you and side with them, even if you hated that person?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it."

"Fine." Cloud scoffed, confused at this weird line of questioning. "If it was the only way to do what I had to, I guess I wouldn't have a choice."

"Then with that in mind," Jeran motioned towards the doors. "After you."

Cloud stared at Jeran for a moment, the expression on his face betraying his unease at the odd questions and the situation he now found himself in. Then he turned, placing his gloved hands on the thick doors as he slowly pushed them open and stepped through, finding himself in awe at what his eyes were taking in. He had entered into some sort of natural cavern, which was fairly large. The darkness of the place was offset by many flames, either on the walls, or candle stands, giving the entire chamber a very haunted feeling. Despite all of this, there were no little demons scampering across the floor, and no tortured souls screaming for release; instead, there was only beauty. Along the stone walls were paintings and sculptures of very high quality and value, and luxurious woven rugs adorned the ground he stood upon. The décor clashed madly with the actual place itself, giving it all a strange and alluring quality that demanded attention. What drew the most attention, however, was at the end of the chamber; a set of man made steps that led to a small platform that was lifted five or so feet off the ground itself. Atop this platform was a large chair, the craftsmanship and design of which instantly made Cloud think of it as a throne.

As Jeran stepped in behind him and shut the doors, the man in the chair opened his eyes and Cloud was able to make out his appearance; though aqua-green rather than blue, they emitted the same, unusual glow his did, only stronger. In the darkness of this cave, the glow from the man's eyes lightly illuminated his facial features and a small portion of his upper body. Cloud felt his blood begin to boil with past hatred as the cat-slit eyes stared down at him and recognition set in. As his hands balled into tight fists, he knew it had to be him; no one else he had ever seen had eyes like those. The man's hair was much longer now than it had been, and his blue uniform had been replaced by some sort of black trench coat, but there was no denying his identity. Perhaps if he had known the man was still alive, he may have realized who this ominous "General" his companions had spoken of was before now.

"Sephiroth." Cloud breathed out, his eyes fixated on the Butcher of Nibelheim in astounded horror and irrepressible anger.

"I have been waiting for you, Cloud Strife." said Sephiroth, his voice nearly emotionless. "I had begun to wonder if you would ever come."

"This can't be." Cloud said in utter denial of who he was seeing. "You killed yourself! It was in all the papers!"

"I was not aware of that." He replied with the same monotone. "I think it would be rather difficult for me to be sitting here now if I were dead."

"Then I'll kill you myself!" Cloud shouted as his blinding rage took full control of him.

Without thinking about the consequences of his actions, his hand shot to the Buster Sword at his waist.. Before he could draw the weapon, Jeran grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back to stop him.

"Get off me!" Cloud shouted as Jeran used the painful position to force Cloud to his knees where he would be easier to control.

"No can do, buddy." Jeran grunted through his exertion as he tried to hold the wild boy still. "Can't have you killing my boss."

"You work with this bastard!" Cloud turned his head enough to view Jeran through hate filled eyes. "I'll kill you too then!"

"I don't think so." Jeran twisted his arm again, prompting a shout of pain from the blond. "Besides, you'll be working with him too pretty soon."

"Like hell!"

"Come on now, kid." Jeran insisted. "You said you'd work with some one you hated if it was the only option you had. Don't tell me you aren't a man of your word."

"---- you!" Was the only response Cloud offered.

"Let him go." Sephiroth said from his seat.

"What?" Jeran looked up at the older man. "You sure?"

Sephiroth nodded his approval, and Jeran immediately released Cloud's arm and backed off. Wasting no time, the young soldier grabbed for his sword again and took off in a sprint towards the man who had destroyed his hometown. Long before Cloud could reach him, Sephiroth's disturbing eyes shone brighter and the blond felt pressure all over his body. Falling to his knees as the unseen force pushed down on him, his hands were pinned to the ground and he couldn't manage to lift them up again.

"That is not a very wise thing to do." Came the cold voice from the chair. "You can't possibly hope to defeat me."

"I'd ----ing try!" Cloud hissed through gritted teeth as the pressure held him firmly in place. "You god-forsaken murderer!"

"How hypocritical." Sephiroth said with a slight smirk to his features. "I saved the people of the Holy Shinra Empire countless times for years, yet I'm branded a murderer for the actions of a single day?"

"You destroyed my home!" Cloud shouted as memories and visions from his nightmares danced through his head. "I guided you there so you could help, and you slaughtered everyone I knew!"

"Yes, I did." Sephiroth confirmed without emotion. "Have you ever wondered why?"

"Because you're a sick bastard!" Cloud retorted without hesitation.

"Foolish child." Sephiroth's lips curled at the boy. "You know nothing. Perhaps I was the instrument of your home's destruction, but the true blame lies with Rufus."

"Rufus wasn't the one who burned Nibelheim to the ground and mutilated its people!"

"No," Sephiroth said as his eyes narrows. "But he was the cause of my madness."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Cloud growled as he continued struggling in an attempt to break through whatever spell the silver-haired man had cast on him.

"I assure you that when we journeyed to Nibelheim with Professor Hojo, my intentions were pure. I was merely going to perform my duties as I always had, ridding your town of it's rather…violent problem. However, it was during my time there that I was made aware of the true nature of my origins."

Cloud said nothing; he merely continued trying to wrestle himself off the floor. However, he was listening. Despite his immense hatred for Sephiroth and what he had done, he had always been curious about what had happened in the old abandoned Shinra Mansion that made such a mighty hero's mind snap like a twig.

"I am not human, but a creation of the Emperors to serve his true purpose."

"What?" Cloud let out a harsh whisper of confusion. He remembered Sephiroth babbling things about 'humans' in Nibelheim as if he hadn't been one. "What the hell do you mean you were created?"

"I was the product of a scientific experiment conducted thirty-six years ago. I discovered the truth about my past while we were on our mission. The revelation drove me mad, resulting in the incident that has caused you to so desperately hate me. After that I wandered into the Nibel Mountains where my senses eventually returned to me. That was the start of my new life."

"Your senses!" Cloud yelled as Sephiroth's words shot past his confusion and reignited his fury. "You expect me to just forget that you murdered everyone in Nibelheim because you were pissed about something!"

"I expect no such thing, nor do I care." Sephiroth's cold voice made that rather obvious. "What I do expect of you is to realize that we have a common enemy."

"Rufus." Jeran filled in the blank as he came up alongside of Cloud and looked down at him. "We've been searching for a way to fight against him for years. We want you to help us."

"Help you!" Cloud bit out, wishing he could leap up and stab Jeran in the chest right now just for mentioning such a thing. "You want me to side with the man who ruined my life!"

"If you really want to help the people of the Empire," Jeran paused a moment to let that thought sink in. "Then there's really no other choice."

"And you expect me to believe that this bastard actually wants to help people!" Cloud shot back. "He's a murderer!"

Jeran opened his mouth to defend the aforementioned murderer, but Sephiroth raised a hand to stop him.

"It's true, I no longer care about helping the people of the Empire." Sephiroth said with a cold tone to his words that made it clear he wasn't lying. "But I do want revenge, and as such my goal is the same as yours; the end of Rufus."

"Even if I believed you, what the hell can I do about it?" Cloud scoffed. "Rufus is a god, how would my help make any damn difference?"

"And here I thought you had learned a few things on your trip." Sephiroth remarked. "You still know absolutely nothing."

"Then why don't you enlighten me." Cloud snarled, his hatred for this man growing stronger by the second. "What the hell is the truth?"

"The truth, you say?" Sephiroth erupted into a quiet, unnerving laughter that echoed through the cavern as if the entire place were some sort of nightmare world. "There is no truth. Every word you have ever heard, every story you have ever been told, every _reality_ that you have ever know to exist has been a_ lie_. This paradise that has been created by Rufus for the people is a façade; a cruel trick to keep them under control while his corruption spreads through the entire world like viral blood, slowly infecting everything until all is diseased. The _truth_, young traitor to the Empire, is that the Divine Emperor himself is not merely a hoax, but a devil in disguise. Our world, our beliefs, our very lives have been meticulously sculpted through his manipulation so that all will obey him unquestioningly, and any who fail to accept this will eventually be purged."

"Yeah, I gathered that much by now!" Cloud angrily spoke as Sephiroth's cryptic words ended. "What the ---- can I do to change something that big? Is there hope of stopping Rufus and the demons or not!"

"Hope is a word that has no meaning to me anymore, boy." Sephiroth said with seething anger behind his words. "But there is always a way, and together, we may be able to discover it."

"I'm not going to join forces with a lunatic like you!"

"Rufus has to be stopped." Jeran said sternly. "Jessie told me that a friend of yours was killed, and his last wish was for you to put an end to this. This is the only way you can do that."

"I don't want to stand around and just watch the people of the world be led around like sheep!" Cloud shouted as he clawed at the floor from frustration out of not being able to move. "But I can't just stand here and work with the man who slaughtered my town!"

"But they are sheep." Sephiroth said coldly. "They believe in Rufus because he says he will bring them happiness, and they either cannot see, or do not care to see how he will do that."

"Shut up!" Cloud hissed through his teeth. "I've heard enough of your cryptic bull----! Why the hell do you need my help anyway? I'm just a normal guy!"

"No, Cloud Strife." Sephiroth chuckled as he relaxed back into his chair. "You are anything but."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Cloud snarled in response.

"Come on, Cloud." Jeran said quietly. "Haven't you ever wondered why you climbed the ranks and made it into Special Ops at such a young age?"

"I was just gifted, that's all." Cloud growled at Jeran's implications that he didn't deserve such a ranking. "Zach was only five years older than me and he was in Special Ops!"

"But was he always a prodigy?" Jeran asked as he looked Cloud in the eyes. "Or did he just suddenly start to become one around say, five years ago?"

The former Turks words left Cloud without a rebuttal. His brows furrowed as he considered the question. Now that he thought about it, he had always struggled to keep up with the rest of the soldiers during his days as a recruit, but after he'd returned from the Nibelheim incident, he'd moved past everyone else in leaps and bounds.

"Or how about this?" Jeran continued. "Why do you think Rufus wants you returned to Midgar alive when it would be so much easier to just kill you?"

"I don't know." Cloud said in a quieter voice, some of his anger seeping away as the previous question continued to run through his head. "I'm sure there's a good reason."

"Indeed, there is." Sephiroth said as a dark smile split his lips. "It's the same reason that I had Barret Wallace searching for you in Midgar."

"_You_ gave orders to Avalanche?" Cloud asked in stupefied shock. "To look for me? Why!"

"Because you're important." Jeran stated.

"Is that why Jessie brought me here!" Cloud bit out. "Because you told her to!"

"No." Sephiroth shook his head slightly. "Barret may have sent her to accompany you, but it you came here to me of your own accord."

"Bull----!" Cloud quickly responded. "I didn't even know you were still alive!"

"And yet ever since the moment you left Midgar where you could be monitored and controlled, you were slowly drawn to this place and now here you stand."

"Think about it." Jeran spoke up. "You're the one who went to Junon and then Costa Del Sol. Jessie didn't lead you there."

"Yeah, because I wanted to talk to Rufus! I wasn't coming here!"

"That may have been one of your reasons, but subconsciously you were being drawn to me." Sephiroth said quietly. "After all, it was you who let Jessie lead you here after you escaped from the Emperor's boat. You could have left, but you allowed her to guide you here."

"It's just a coincidence!" Cloud shouted. "Nothing more!"

"Nothing about you is a coincidence." Sephiroth chuckled, a dark and hollow sound. "You know nothing about yourself or of your importance to Rufus. Before you decide what you have to do, you must first learn of what you are."

"What I am?" Cloud shook his head in anger and frustration, not understanding any of this. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

"Return to the place where your involvement in this nightmare began."

"---- you!" He snarled. "I'm not going back to Midgar!"

"Not Midgar." Sephiroth told him. "There is one in Nibelheim who can tell you all that you need to know."

"That's not where my involvement started!" Cloud shouted, his anger returning to him at the mention of his birthplace. "That's where _you_ started!"

"No, Cloud." Sephiroth smirked. "Yours began there as well, you just don't know it."

"But there's no one in Nibelheim!" Cloud's voice was filled with hate. "_You_ killed them all!"

"There is one who still remains." Sephiroth's lips spread into a grin that chilled Cloud to his bones. "Return to your birthplace, and seek out the truth in the mansion of the _Holy_ Shinra Empire."

With those words, Sephiroth closed his eyes again, and was engulfed by the darkness. At last, the pressure on Cloud's body evaporated and he was able to move once again. He leapt up and reached for his sword again, clearly intent on saying to hell with everything he had heard and instead attacking Sephiroth, but a sharp blow to the back of his head from Jeran toppled him to the ground. Just before he lost consciousness a series of questions flew through his mind. Who could possibly still be alive in Nibelheim, the town that Sephiroth had burned down five years ago? Why would some one with knowledge of Cloud's past and his importance to Rufus be within the long abandoned Shinra Mansion, and was this person the one who drove Sephiroth into a murderous frenzy when he went into that same building on that terrible day?


	4. Chapter IV Bloody Valentine

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for chapter V.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review, and I'll address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter IV

Bloody Valentine

**Thirty-Six Years Ago**

_What a completely miserable way to have my life come to an end._ This was the sole conclusion he could come to as he sat atop the plain wooden box that he would probably be buried in. With deep brown eyes that went well with his short black hair, he looked around the small room that he'd been confined in. Actually, to call it a room was a bit of an overstatement; it was nothing more than an alcove in the underground caves where the secret laboratories for the Omega Project had been constructed. From what he'd been able to discern from all the bones and unidentifiable, broken devices laying around the floor, this was where they disposed of failures. The heavy iron door that had been constructed to keep the alcove separate from the rest of the cave gave credence to this theory. Or, perhaps the bones here were once traitors to the Empire, like he now was?

It was strange; for years he had faithfully served Rufus without question. As the founder and leader of the Turks, he knew all to well that the Empire's world peace would come at the price of blood. No longer could he recall how many times he and his subordinates were called upon to silence some one who was standing in the way of progress; but so it was with any government, those who refused to adhere to the law and embrace the philosophies that such laws were built upon must be dealt with if order was to be obtained. Looking down at the crimson suit he wore, now tattered and stained after his capture and imprisonment, he wondered how many he had killed for the Empire who were just as innocent as Lucrecia was.

Lucrecia; that name would now be the death of him, it seemed. After finding Ilfana they had learned that the Ancients were not extinct as they had thought, but when she and the brilliant Professor Gast perished in a laboratory explosion any hope of learning more about their species had been lost. Then Lucrecia was discovered, alive and well, and the possibility was renewed. Originally he had understood why he had been asked to capture her; she was a survivor of a species thought long dead, she had to be studied as all endangered species were. It wasn't until after he'd obtained her that he realized she was not simply some animal, she was a sentient being who was every bit as intelligent as a human, if not more so. Something about this Ancient female put him at peace, as if her very presence was soothing. During their return trip to Midgar, he had talked to her and come to respect her and think of her as a friend, and despite their slightly different physiologies, perhaps even more than that. He was sure that when the young Professor Hojo, who had taken over the work of the late Professor Gast, met Lucrecia, he too would understand that she was no mere animal. Surely Hojo would treat her with the respect that her innocence and peaceful nature deserved.

_How could I have been so foolish?_ Hojo was insane, this became immediately apparent to him when he refused to acknowledge Lucrecia's rights as a sentient being. All Hojo cared about was his precious science, and Lucrecia was an amazing find for a man such as him. Even still, Hojo was not harming her, and so he decided he would visit her and keep an eye on her, and when Hojo had learned all he needed to know, he would be sure she was set free.

_What an idiotic plan that was._ Neglecting his duties to visit Lucrecia one night, he arrived at Hojo's science facility at an inopportune time and overhead Hojo and Emperor Rufus himself discussing the theory for the Omega Project. He was appalled, to say the least. As demented and lost in his work as Hojo was, he could almost understand the reasoning, but how could Rufus condone and endorse such a thing? Without thinking of the consequences, or perhaps without caring, he had snuck back into the building later that night and broke Lucrecia out of her confinement chamber. Together, the two of them had fled from Midgar in the hopes of escaping the horrible plans that were in store for her.

_Did I really think I could run so easily?_ They were captured, of course, and now here he was. The Crimson Killer himself had turned soft, and had let his guard down. Traitors were executed; not to the public's knowledge of course, but he had seen it done countless times. This small cave room would be his grave, and Lucrecia would have her body violated for the nefarious goals of twisted men.

With a loud clank and squeaking hinges, the door to his cave prison was opened, and in stepped Hojo. The young scientist stared at him and shook his head, as if in disappointment. Were it not for his weakened state, and shackles, he would have neither trouble nor regret in taking the mad scientist's life. As it was, he was helpless.

"You've been down here for several days now." Hojo said, his youthful voice inappropriate for one of his grand delusions. "Have you learned the error of your ways yet?"

"The error of _my_ ways?" The crimson suited man asked, his voice dry from lack of water and food. "You despicable man. How can you think of doing such a thing to her?"

"Her?" Hojo asked, looking confused for a moment. "Oh! You're referring to the specimen? She isn't human, you know, so she has no rights under our laws."

"Under our laws!" He shouted in anger. "She has intelligence and wisdom beyond yours, monster!"

"Oh come now, that simply can't be true." Hojo said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "Besides, it doesn't matter. Even if she was human, the plan would go ahead. If it succeeds, it will not only bring Emperor Rufus closer to his goal of world unity, but it will be a tremendous scientific breakthrough!"

"Is that all the two of you care about!" He snarled. "Peace and science? At what costs? The innocence and dignity of Lucrecia? I've killed in the name of the Empire, but I believed I was killing evil men and women, not a pure soul like her!"

"You speak as if we're stealing something away from her." Hojo chuckled. "On the contrary, she will be given a great gift! She will be the mother of one of the most powerful creatures this world has ever seen! Her child will one day lead Rufus to the tools he needs to complete his vision!"

"Lucrecia does not want a child!" He screamed with impotent rage. "You are impregnating her against her will! How can you do such a thing!"

"Don't you mean could?" Hojo smirked.

"No." His dark brown eyes went wide. "You couldn't have."

"It's already done. Yesterday, in fact. So far the project is going very well."

"You bastard!" He cried out as he tried to run forward, to kill this evil man, only to have his arms nearly pulled from their sockets by the chains they were locked to.

"By the way, I haven't told you why I came yet." Hojo said, obviously gleeful that he could taunt all he wanted in safety. "I've received new orders from Emperor Rufus. I'll be running a second project along with Omega. Rufus wants me to create powerful creatures to serve him, and he wants me to use humans as the base. I'm not entirely sure how I will achieve this yet, so I've decided I need a test subject to experiment on."

"A test subject?" He repeated as fear encroached upon his mind.

"Yes, that's right." Hojo made a wicked smile as he slid his hand into his lab coat and withdrew a reddish materia gun from one of its pockets. "Do you recognize this?"

"It's my gun." He said as the fear spread further; he had been prepared for death, but was that truly what Hojo had in store for him?

"That's right. You've killed many with this weapon, haven't you?"

Without waiting for a response, Hojo aimed the gun at his chest and fired three times. The magic powered rounds impacted hard and tore through his flesh and out the other side, finally exploding against the cave wall as blood sprayed across the room. With wide eyes, the crimson suited man dropped to his knees, looking down at the ragged and gaping holes in his shirt before he fell completely to the ground.

"It seemed appropriate that I use your own weapon on you." Hojo chuckled as he stepped over to the dying man and kicked him over so that he could see into the eyes of his executioner. "Now your body will be ready for the things I am going to do to you. I have some incredible ideas that I've never been legally allowed to attempt before, but with Rufus' personal approval, I no longer have limitations. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll return for you later today."

With another kick, Hojo turned and left the room, not even bothering to shut the door on his way out; the prisoner wouldn't be escaping now. As he lay there feeling the life slowly drain away from him, he felt intense sorrow for Lucrecia; he had failed to protect the only person he had ever truly cared about.

As his eyes slid shut and the final breath of his life escaped his body, Vincent Valentine embraced the darkness and prayed to whatever true gods there were that Hojo would allow his death to be eternal.

* * *

**Present Day**

The Nibel mountain range was a nightmarish place that no one looked upon with joy. Devoid of normalcy, the mountains here were a hellish twist of jagged gray rocks jutting into the air like a formation of gigantic stalagmites. Barren, and unnaturally smooth, they rose up out of the ground like some sort of madman's vile sculpture. Ancient legend told tales of the mountains being crafted by the souls of the damned, but modern day scientists shrugged off such stories as superstitious nonsense, spun in ages past by those who mistook the mako energies that overflowed here as spirits. It was in this place that Nibelheim had been built and stood for many decades. Originally a retreat for those who mined the dark mountains for materia, it had evolved into a fully functional, albeit small, town. It was the place where Cloud and Tifa had been born, and it was the last place they wanted to return to since it had been destroyed.

When Cloud finally regained consciousness he had found himself and Tifa locked in a room with Jessie, Yuffie, and Jeran, where they went over the situation again for Tifa's benefit. Neither Cloud nor Tifa were at all pleased that they'd been deceived and that their traveling companion, Jessie, had been working for Sephiroth. Although they were adamant in wanting nothing to do with the man who had destroyed their families, and understandably so, they were asked to at least go to Nibelheim and investigate what Sephiroth had said before they made their final decision. It had taken many hours of discussion and a few days of cooling down before Cloud and Tifa had finally agreed to do at least that much.

As their boots crushed down on ground that was still burnt black even after five years, Cloud, Tifa, and Jessie stepped into the ruins of Nibelheim. It was the first time that either of the two natives had seen their birthplace since the fire, and it looked much like they had imagined; an ashen and ghostly reminder of childhood memories that were now stained with the blood of their friends and families. They all looked around at the site in different ways; Jessie viewed it with guarded sympathy as she recalled her own terrible memories, and Tifa hugged herself and held her head low, a look of intense pain destroying her normally beautiful face. Cloud, on the other hand, stood there with a look of cold anger, and disconnected emotions that made him seem inhuman and uncaring. Looking past the blackened husks of buildings and up a dark hill, he stared at the only structure in Nibelheim that had not been caught in the deadly flames that had destroyed everything else; a tall and imposing building that was easily suspect of being haunted.

The long abandoned Shinra Mansion had been constructed here, in the middle of nowhere, for the purpose of housing Shinra scientists so they could study the mako energies that permeated this region. For reasons unknown, it had been abandoned around thirty-six years ago, and had since stood as an eerie monument that the town had come to fear. It was said that it had become the residence of a tortured spirit longing for release, for in the dead of night unearthly screams and moans could be heard coming from the depths of the weary old mansion. Some believed that this was the reason that it had been abandoned by the Empire, and others believed it had become the dwelling place of evil men who snuck into the mansion under the cover of moonlight and did terrible things to innocent people they had abducted. No one knew what the truth about the creepy old building was, but Cloud remembered it as a place where young children were dared to venture in order to prove that they were brave; he also recalled that none of them had ever made it as far as the front door before running home in tears.

The Shinra Mansion had also been the building that Sephiroth had entered as a respected soldier, only to exit it as a raving madman. After Cloud's quaint little meeting with the Butcher of Nibelheim himself, Jeran had brought him back to the main portion of the city.

_Enough reminiscing_. Cloud thought to himself.

"Let's get this over with." He said out loud, walking forward again and towards the haunting old structure.

* * *

_Noises?_ _More treasure hunters looking for something of value up in the mansion? _That seemed the most likely case. After all, if it was some one who knew about the secrets underground they wouldn't be spending so much time making a racket in the well built decoy above.

_But what if they do know and they're coming down here?_ That didn't seem all that possible; no one from the Empire had dared to enter the mansion since the incident five years ago. They wanted nothing to do with this particular failed experiment any longer.

_And if for some reason they have returned, I'll be ready for them. I will not be silenced again.

* * *

_

Hours of searching and it had led them no where at all. Sephiroth had indicated that some one was still living in this mansion, but it was clear that no one other than robbers had been here in years. A thick layer of dust spread over the floor, and anything that hadn't been stolen was covered by white sheets. Though they felt it was pointless, they had decided to search the mansion from top to bottom. Couches had been overturned, doors had been busted down, but after going over the building with a fine toothed comb, they had come up with nothing. There had been a brief moment of hope when they discovered a safe hidden in a room with an old piano, but it had been empty, probably looted long ago like the rest of the house.

"Are you sure he said to go here?" Jessie asked in tired frustration as they sat down to rest in a small room on the second story. "Maybe you just misunderstood him?"

"No. It was pretty clear that Sephiroth wanted us to come to this mansion." Cloud said in an angry tone, he still wasn't pleased about any of this, and he didn't need Jessie reminding him who had sent them here. Glancing around the room, he had a strange feeling; something about this placed seemed very familiar to him, but he had never gone inside the building before. "Besides, it's the only ----ing building that maniac didn't burn down."

"Maybe there's a secret some where?" Tifa spoke up after a moment of dead silence. "Like a hidden room, or something disguised like the Outlaw City was?"

Cloud looked up, staring at Tifa as some distant memory in his mind sparked to life.

"It'd be pretty stupid to hide in here." Jessie said. "This was an Imperial building."

"Stupid." Cloud said as he slowly stood up, his brows creasing as he looked quickly around the room, finally coming to a stop as he stared at a slightly curved section of the wall made from heavy stone blocks. "Unless it was the Empire that made it hidden."

The two girls looked at each other in confusion, not quite understanding what he was talking about, or doing. Without explaining what he was feeling, Cloud stepped over to the spot on the wall and placed his hands on the cold stone.

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked.

Cloud said nothing, instead letting his actions respond for him. With a light push against the curved stones, a loud click was heard. Silence ensued for a split second, then with a horrible grinding sound, the curved stone wall slid backwards, then to the left, revealing a hidden door; the blackness of which was only interrupted by the dirt and dust falling from the old wall.

"How did you know that was there?" Jessie asked, the astonishment in her voice quite apparent.

"I don't know." Cloud whispered. "It feels like I've seen this happen before, but I don't remember ever being here."

Giving him an odd stare, Jessie edged past him and poked her head into the darkness as she broke open a flare from her belt and tossed it through. As the stick ignited, the space beyond the door was lit up as bright as the sun, revealing a rickety old spiral staircase that descended a good fifty feet. As the flare landed on the ground, the three of them looked at each other, before Cloud slowly withdrew the Buster Sword from its sheath at his side, and stepped into the stairwell.

* * *

As the distant sound of the hidden doorway sliding open echoed down the stairwell and through the underground cave, voices could be heard as multiple people began descending the spiraling stairs. Though he listened very carefully, he didn't hear the sound of the door closing behind them.

_Which means that this time will be different. _He thought as he lay in wait for thefoolish souls who dared to enter here. _This time, I can get out.

* * *

_

The descent down the stairs had been perilous enough, they were rather old and unstable with missing planks all along the way, but when the trio reached the bottom they felt the sudden urge to run back up them as quickly as they could. It wasn't too bad at first, while unsettlingly quiet and dark, the natural cave walls were nothing to be terrified of after all. However, after they passed a man made wall on their left complete with a barred door that had fell from its hinges, the scenery changed drastically.

Were Cloud not seeing it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe it was true. Here, beneath the old Shinra Mansion and the ruins of his hometown, was a laboratory that must have rivaled those found in Midgar at one time. The cave walls were no longer visible, hidden behind the brick walls of this hidden research facility; it was as if they had unknowingly been transported to a completely different place. More shocking than the laboratory itself, though, was the condition it was now in. Looking around, two things were immediately clear; this place had seen better days, and some one had decided that they didn't like the lab. Fairly modern equipment that was worth a fortune lay in broken bits. Pipes hung from the ceiling, broken open but long ago dried out. Glass vials and small test tubes lay shattered and surgical utensils lay around as if some one had just slung them at random. The most striking, though, was the series of large, broken glass chambers, all of which were big enough to house a full grown man; and for some reason, all of this seemed oddly familiar to Cloud.

Yet the state of the wrecked laboratory failed to compare to the condition of the scientists who had occupied it. Tifa covered her mouth in horror and disgust, Jessie shook her head in disbelief, but Cloud didn't seem phased at all. There were bodies everywhere; or perhaps more precisely, there were body parts every where. The long decayed corpses of the men and women who had worked here lay strewn about, parts of them missing, most likely littering some other area of the lab. Their shredded clothing, and the old, dried blood that stained not just them, but the lab as well, were a testament to how they had died. Whoever had done this hadn't just wished to kill them; these people had been made to suffer, to writhe in agony as they were ripped apart piece by piece.

Cloud had seen such brutality only once before in his life; on the surface, where Nibelheim had once stood.

_Was this where it started? _He wondered as he gazed around, scarcely able to imagine the animalistic carnage that had taken place here. _Were these the first people that Sephiroth massacred?_

"Cloud, look." Tifa whispered, breaking his train of thought, her voice quiet and filled with dread over the things she was seeing. The young girl pointed to a wall with one hand as the other hugged herself, not so much from the cold of the cave as the atmosphere they were standing in; it certainly felt like they were in the middle of a horror story.

Following her fingers aim to the wall, Cloud and Jessie said nothing, letting the scene sink in. There, painted in large letters with what was most likely the blood of the murdered scientists, was a single sentence.

"You're next, Hojo." Cloud read the words out loud, breaking the uneasy silence that they had found themselves in.

"Isn't that the guy you escorted here with Sephiroth?" Tifa quietly asked, not really sure what it meant, but not liking it in the slightest.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Professor Hojo is the head of the Empires science department."  
Just then a sound was heard, and the three of them went absolutely still. It hadn't been much of anything, just a faint noise like clothing brushing against something. It could have been nothing, really, perhaps even a small animal that had made the ruined lab its home. However, the décor around them, and the fact that the sound had come from above and not from the ground, filled all three of them with a sense of worry as they slowly looked up.

"My god." Jessie whispered, though she didn't much believe in 'gods' anymore thanks to Rufus. "What the hell were they doing here?"

Neither of her companions answered; they merely stared at the disturbing sight above them. Chained to the ceiling, and very lightly swaying to and fro, was a long box made of some sort of strong metal. It seemed to be upside down, they could see the hinges and some sort of mechanical lock for the lid facing down. The box was held together by large bolts, and was slightly rusted from a drip in the ceiling. The thing that made it unsettling, though, was the thin slit about a foot down from one end of the lid. It seemed to be there to let some one look inside of it, or for some one inside of the box to look out Perhaps it was nothing, just a storage bin of equipment, but its size and structure made them all think of only one thing; a coffin.

"Do you think someone's in it?" Tifa whispered, her shaky voice breaking the tense silence.

"A dead person, maybe." Jessie quietly responded.

"Then what was that noise?" Tifa questioned. "Dead people don't make noise."

"And living people aren't in coffins." Jessie retaliated. "Besides, that thing's probably been up there for years, even if some one alive had been in it, they'd be dead by now."

"There's one way to find out." Cloud said as his eyes followed a series of pipes and wires that led from the "coffin" to a small lever just a few feet to their right. Without waiting for either of the girls to object, he walked over and pulled it. For a moment nothing happened, and he wondered if maybe it was broken. Then a loud creak came from some mechanism in the box, and its lock failed. With a squeal, the lid fell open and a body tumbled out. Faster than they could blink, a man in tattered red clothing fell the full twenty feet from the ceiling and slammed into the hard stone floor with a sickening thud.

Tifa's hand went to her mouth, and even Jessie and Cloud seemed shocked. He had expected the lever to lower the box, not let it fall open. None of them seemed to want to move to check on the body, the circumstances were far too unnerving. They couldn't get a good look at him as he lay crumpled on the floor, all they could really see was his hair and a strange gold colored gauntlet that covered most of his left arm. However, it was clear that he was alive; or at least, would have been had his head not hit the ground hard and twisted his neck in a fashion that it was not meant to be.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cloud began to slowly walk towards the man, but then he began to stir. With very slow movements, the man picked himself up off the floor, his bones and joints popping very loudly in the otherwise quiet area. Stepping back to where Jessie and Tifa stood with wide eyes, Cloud slowly reached for the hilt of his sword as the man lifted his hands to pop his neck back and fourth as ridiculously long, black hair fell down over his ruined red suit. A terrible feeling swept over Cloud as he watched the deathly pale man lift his head and open his eyes, revealing iris's as red as his clothing; to say that this felt dangerous wouldn't even begin to describe it.

* * *

At long last, he was free from his prison. His movements were very slow at first, as he pulled himself up off of the cold stone floor; after all, he had been confined within that cursed box for five years now. At first he kept his eyes closed, just enjoying the simple freedom of movement that had eluded him for so long. Then as he opened his eyes, he stared without blinking at the man and two women who stood before him, looking absolutely terrified.

_They have no idea_.

Centering his eyes on the boy, he visually confirmed the sensation that had come over him when these intruders had first entered the laboratory.

"My name is Vincent Valentine." The pale man said, his voice coarse after not speaking out loud for such a long period of time. "And you're a step down from the last man I faced. Why have you come back here? I hope Hojo doesn't think so little of me that he'd send a cheap imitation to fight me this time."

"I'm Cloud Strife." The boy said slowly, his troubled gaze never leaving the freakish man who spoke with absolutely no emotion to his voice, as if he wasn't even alive. "Hojo didn't send me here"

"No? Who then?" Vincent asked as he slowly began popping and stretching various parts of his body to get them to loosen up a little quicker. "Don't tell me you're coming here to try and prove you're just as good as the original. Hojo didn't even put a fraction of the time into you that he put into the original."

"What?" Cloud asked with confusion apparent in his voice. "You sound almost like you know me, and who the hell is this person you keep comparing me to?"

"I don't believe it." Vincent said as he rubbed the back of his neck and quietly laughed, a hollow chuckle that seemed to be nothing more than a force of habit. "You're just as clueless as he was when he came here. Honestly, how can you not _feel_ it?"

"Feel what?" Cloud asked as he shook his head. "What the hell are you going on about?"

"Maybe it's because you weren't awake until long after the process was completed, it might have embedded itself in your blood so well by then that you just didn't notice it. Come to think of it, he probably never noticed because he was born with it."

Cloud didn't say a word this time, instead he just stared at Vincent as if he were speaking in another language that he couldn't begin to understand.

"Still, I can't fathom how you can't sense it." Vincent said as his lips curled in disgust, his voice suddenly filled with anger, as if some one had flipped a switch that unleashed hatred into his mind. "I can practically _smell_ it on you! The entire cave reeks with that stench!"

"Smell what!" Cloud shouted, taking a step back as he heard the seething rage in this strange mans voice, and noticed that Jessie and Tifa had already started moving slowly back towards the path to the stairs. "I don't know what the hell you're saying!"

"Omega!" Vincent hissed, the word drawn out and the sound no longer that of a man, but the guttural voice of an animal.

In an instant, his crimson irises burst into a burning light, and with a flex of his right hand his fingernails grew into dark black talons nearly as sharp as the metal tips of his other arms gauntlet. As the three intruders lost their final ounce of bravery and began to flee Vincent let out a scream that could frighten dragons and wake the dead, and began running after them.

* * *

This trip had gone from depressing to disturbing rather quickly, and as they took off running in a mad dash for the stairs that could get them out of this hell hole, it seemed as if it had just taken a sharp turn into life threatening. It had been painfully clear that the red suited man wasn't normal the moment he'd stood from that horrible fall and began popping his bones around without even a hint of pain on his sickly looking face. Even still, nothing could have prepared them for the sudden change in Vincent's persona and appearance; he had gone from a cold and creepy pale guy to a furiously violent animal, equipped with claws and all, in less than a heartbeat. Cloud was a hardened and talented soldier, but even he wanted nothing to do with this monster.

As the three of them ran at a frantic pace, Jessie fumbled a grenade from her belt with shaking hands and tossed it behind them, hoping that it would kill or incapacitate whatever the hell that guy was. The explosion that erupted behind them as a result caused a large section of the ceiling to fall down, and they were rewarded by hearing an angered roar from Valentine as he was buried beneath the rubble. Not taking any chances, they decided it was best not to stop and celebrate, so they continued running, knowing their lives may very well depend on it.

They were halfway up the spiral stairs when they heard loud crashing as the man-thing broke free. Ignoring his better judgment, Cloud looked down just in time to see two bright red dots appear in the darkness below like the eyes of the devil. As he watched in awe and terror, Vincent took a flying leap, latching onto one of the steps a good fifteen feet up from the ground, before bounding up higher.

Cloud didn't have time to argue with himself over how impossible such leaps were, especially when everything else they'd seen of this guy so far was also quite impossible. All he knew was that they still had to go up the rest of the stairs the old fashioned way, and that was going to make their exit a very close call.

"Faster!" He yelled at the two girls ahead of him.

They didn't need to hear any more from him, or look to see why they should do as he said. Jessie and Tifa merely did as Cloud had so nicely suggested and pumped their strong legs as quickly as they could, hopping up the steps two or three at a time despite how dangerous they knew the rickety thing was. With just seconds to spare, it looked as if they were going to make it. Jessie and Tifa made it through, and Cloud was in the process of darting through into the mansion, already looking for a way to close the hidden door behind them again. Then, with one final leap, Vincent caught up with them and used the speed and momentum from his jump to slam into Cloud's back, his arms wrapping around the boys waist as he tackled him to the floor.

Tifa and Jessie jumped out of the way as Cloud struggled free from the growling man's grasp and reached for a dagger on his belt. Hearing the whooshing sound of a swipe from behind him, he rolled to his left, narrowly avoiding Vincent's fist. Vincent swung again with his gauntleted hand, prompting Cloud to parry with his short blade. Using the parry to push Vincent back for a moment, Cloud took advantage of the situation and plunged the dagger deep into the man's chest, spilling blood down his arm and onto the floor. Vincent made no sound or movement; Cloud assumed it was from shock, he'd often seen mortal wounds stun the victim into immobile silence until their life failed them.

Vincent Valentine chuckled again, that same emotionless sound from before, and grasped Cloud's wrist with his gauntlet. Despite all his physical strength, Cloud was powerless against his grip, and he watched in denial as Vincent pulled his arm back, and the dagger with it. The deep wound in Valentines chest stopped bleeding and healed in less time than it took most people to tie their shoes.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Vincent growled as he grasped Clouds neck and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.

* * *

With a loud crash and a rain of glass, Cloud exited the second story of the mansion by way of a window. Fortunately for him, he landed on top of a large bush rather than the ground; otherwise he might very well be dead right now. Groaning from waves of pain that were washing all over his body, Cloud grimaced and began fighting his way out of the bush just in time to spot Vincent step up to the shattered window and look down at him. A light hop was taken by the freakish man and he landed on the ground, not even remotely phased by the long drop. Cloud just managed to stand up and draw his sword as Valentine began walking towards him, anger sculpted onto his face. He swung the Buster Sword as best he could in the condition he was now in, but Vincent caught the blade with his gauntleted hand and stopped it cold in its tracks like it was a cardboard tube.

Even as Cloud shook his head in utter disbelief of the mans strength, Vincent punched hard with his right hand, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying as if he'd been struck by a train. Cloud landed a good fifteen feet further down the hill, and then tumbled another ten before finally coming to stop on a large rock. Clutching his chest, Cloud coughed hard as blood splattered from his lips, his clenched teeth tinted red.

"I'm disappointed." Vincent said in his angered, animal sounding voice as he stalked closer once more. "I was expecting a challenge, but you've already lost. Where is your power? Have you not been able to tap it at all?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Cloud choked out, his now blurry vision barely allowing him to notice Jessie and Tifa exit the mansion's main doors, running towards them with weapons ready. "Why are you trying to kill me? I didn't come here to fight you!"

"It's all I can do!" Vincent roared as he lunged forward and kicked his right leg into the air, the ruined loafer he wore on it crashing into Cloud's cheek causing him to go flying again. Then, as he shouted in rage, there was a possible tinge of desperation in his voice. "You wanted a monster! A creature that had the intellect of a human but the savagery of a beast! This is what you bastards did to me, and now I'll kill every last one of you!"

Cloud rolled to a stop again, but didn't move this time. The pain from Vincent's inhuman blows was so intense that he couldn't even tell exactly where it was coming from; it felt as if his entire body was suffering, not just where he'd been struck.

"You're talking about Shinra." He coughed as the realization struck him, and his only hope for survival came to mind. Pushing the upper half of his body up from the ground with what little strength he had left, he shook his head and tried to keep the panic out of his voice. "I'm not an Imperial agent, I'm fighting against them! I hate the Empire just like you!"

"You could never hate them like I do!" Vincent shouted so loudly that it boomed throughout the area like a thunder-clap. With seething hatred triggered by those words he rushed forward, bringing his fist up to strike Cloud down and silence him once and for all.

Cloud began to flinch, knowing already that his life was about to end. Jessie and Tifa were still too far away to do anything, and even if they were right next to him they probably couldn't have stopped it. Then, just as he was preparing himself for death, a black and silver blur came from the left and slammed into Vincent, sending the man stumbling back. For a moment, he didn't know what had happened; he thought maybe he was just delirious from the pain he was in. Blinking his eyes hard and looking again, he saw what that fast blur had been. Standing between him and the enraged form of Valentine, was Sephiroth Kagemusha.

* * *

Satisfaction; that's what Vincent was about to receive. He would sink his gauntlet claws into the boy's neck and tear him limb from limb as he screamed for mercy, but there would be none; no one in the Empire deserved mercy. The blood would be plentiful, and the sounds of flesh ripping would be music to his ears after so long in captivity, and he was going to enjoy every moment of it. Then, in an instant, that small amount of happiness was stolen from him as some one flew into his peripheral vision and landed a kick to his ribs that caused him to back peddle a good ten feet. The attack hadn't really hurt, pain was one of the many things that he couldn't feel very well anymore, but it had been powerful; too powerful, in fact, to have come from a normal man.

Narrowing his eyes, Vincent straightened himself up and growled at the man who had interrupted his game. Despite the change in appearance, Vincent knew exactly who it was. In fact, he didn't even need to look at him to figure that out, the scent from Sephiroth was far more pungent than what the boy had. Looking over Sephiroth's new attire, a black trench coat with iron shoulder guards that was open to reveal a bare chest covered only by straps that crossed his heart, Vincent couldn't help but think he looked like a cross between a ninja and a bondage queen. Kagemusha also had several weapons on him including a three foot katana, and a much shorter nodachi, both of which were attached to his belt.

"I see you've changed." Vincent murmured. "Does Rufus keep you so busy that you no longer have time to cut your hair?"

"I see you haven't." Sephiroth responded quickly, noting that Vincent was exactly the same as the last time they'd met except for his longer hair. "And my tenure with the Holy Shinra Empire ended rather soon after our first encounter."

"I'm deeply sorry if I caused you to get fired." Vincent glanced to his left as he saw the two girls from the mansion finally catch up and scurry over to the boy he'd beaten half to death. Had he retained much of a sense of humor, he might find it amusing that they were also making sure to stay behind Sephiroth. Nodding at the battered body of Cloud he added, "Or did you merely lose skill in your old age and get replaced with a newer model?"

"Charming." Sephiroth said as he looked behind him at the trio, noting with some annoyance that the martial artist girl, Tifa was her name he thought, glared at him in hatred, yet still intended to stand behind him for protection. "It's good to know that your brain hasn't completely turned to mush after all that time spent locked in your box."

"Five years, three months, and seventeen days." Vincent hissed, the red in his eyes growing a bit brighter as fuming anger began to return to him. "Have you come back to subjugate me once more, or are you merely passing through on your insane little way to slaughter another village?"

"Enough with the sarcasm, Valentine." Sephiroth shook his head with a look of disgust on his face. "You lack the emotion to make it interesting."

"I suppose you would know, considering who your father is." Vincent retaliated.

"I haven't come all this way just to argue with you and throw you back in your cage." Sephiroth stated, ignoring Vincent's last comment. "I wanted to let you out."

"You knew this crazy ass was down there!" Tifa suddenly shouted, looking as if she was about to stand up and attack the former General. "Were you just trying to get us killed!"

"I'm sure you must be angry." Sephiroth said quietly, knowing that Cloud would be the one yelling if he had the energy to do so; Jessie didn't look all that thrilled either. "My intentions were not to cause you harm. Vincent will be a powerful ally in our fight against Rufus, but he and I haven't always seen eye to eye, as it were. I had hoped that he would not attack you outright, as he has no prior history with any of you."

"Ally?" Vincent snarled, stopping Tifa from saying any more and causing her to step back once again. "You think I would fight alongside of you, of all people? You must truly be mad!"

"No, I'm not mad. Perhaps I'm the only sane person left in this world." Sephiroth spoke, with sincerity in his voice. "I turned against the Empire after learning the truth of my birth, and of my purpose from you. I wish to stop Rufus from fulfilling his goals, and for that I will need allies such as you."

"Attempting to go against your programming, are you?" Vincent shook his head and swiped his arm through the air. "You're a puppet, and nothing more. Besides that, my fight is not with Rufus, it is with Hojo."

"Hojo was the means of your curse, but Rufus was the one who ordered it to be done to you. Surely you must want revenge on him as well."

"Rufus was not the one who cut away my soul and made me more beast than man!" Vincent shouted, the rage that they'd seen earlier boiling up once again. "Hojo's death at my hands is the only thing that matters to me in this hell of a life anymore!"

"Then fight along with me!" Sephiroth's brows creased. "Hojo and Rufus work hand in hand; if we fight against Rufus, we will certainly fight against Hojo as well. We can help one another reach our goals!"

"I need no help from you, monster!" Vincent screamed, and the time for talk had then passed. With a sudden lunge, he swiped his gauntleted hand at Sephiroth's face, but the black-clad warrior was able to jump out of the way just in time.

"I see that there is only one way to proceed." Sephiroth calmly stated as he slowly pulled his katana, the Masamune, from its sheath at his side and coolly pointed it at Vincent as if to challenge him. "And if I have to beat intelligence back into your bestial mind so that you can see the wisdom of my offer, then so be it."

"This will not be like last time, Omega!" Vincent roared in anger as the talons on his fingers seemed to grow longer and his body practically trembled with rage and power as he sprinted forward. "This time I will have your head!"

* * *

Vincent sprung forward once again, prompting Sephiroth to bring the Masamune up into a defensive position. As the enraged Valentine began slashing at him with both hands, he used his weapon to deflect the blows as he took slow steps back. Though he had seen Vincent's power before, he still found himself amazed at the speed, agility, and sheer tenacity of his attacks. Had he been an average warrior, it would be impossible to leave this battle alive. As it stood, though, Sephiroth knew exactly how to counter Vincent's strength.

With a sudden swipe of his blade, Sephiroth barely nicked Vincent's arm, throwing the other off balance just long enough to leap backwards and get some distance between them. The former general muttered a few words beneath his breath as his eyes began to grow brighter, and electricity jostled through his left arm. As he brought that hand into a fist, the electric current molded itself to his will, becoming a whip. There were few in this world who could not only summon magic, but precisely command it, as he could.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Vincent!" Sephiroth shouted over the noise of his new weapon. "Join me!"

"I will join you over my dead body, Kagemusha!" Vincent yelled back as he slowly paced in a circle around Sephiroth, just out of the whips range.

"You already are dead!" He responded as he continued his plan. "You've been dead for thirty-six years, why don't you just accept that?"

"No!" Valentine roared, becoming angrier with each exchange. "I still have hate and the will for revenge! As long as I have them, then I am alive!"

"Alive, perhaps, but no longer human!" Sephiroth shook his head. "Even animals have the emotions you so desperately cling to!"

"Your masters made me this way!" Vincent screamed. "It was not my fault, you did this to me!"

"My _former_ masters, yes. Need I remind you again, that I am now opposing them? Why will you not fight with me, Vincent? Your chances of attaining your revenge are so much greater with my help!" Narrowing his eyes and twitching his lips into a smirk he added. "Or are you just trying to get yourself killed so that you can't risk failing to avenge Lucrecia just like you failed to save her from her fate?"

"Don't you say her name!" The words erupted from Vincent like an explosion, the anger in his voice booming through the sky. "You are the cause of all of this! You have no right to speak her name!"

"Of course I do, Vincent." Sephiroth calmly stated, expecting this to be the last thing he would need to say. "She was my mother, after all."

At those words Vincent reared his head back and howled at the sky, the sound no longer even remotely human. Sephiroth grinned as he stepped back and prepared himself, as the change began. As the trio of newcomers watched in astonishment, Vincent fell to the ground on his hands and knees. With his chest heaving, animal growls and roars ripped from his throat, and his eyes turned solid yellow. Adding to the plethora of unnatural things about this man, his skin began to bubble, expanding and changing from pale white to deep purple. The red suit he wore began to rip. A strange mane of fur appeared that went from red, to orange, to deep blue, extending from the top of his head to the small of his back. His hands and feet began to change into large paws, and the golden gauntlet altered its size and shape to accommodate this. The end of his spine began to grow, slowly forming a tail tipped with a dangerous looking fin that lashed about in the air. Vincent's face elongated into a muzzle containing rows of deadly fangs, and two sharp horns extended at least a foot from his forehead. With a final shake, much like a canine would do if it were wet, the tattered clothing he had worn was thrown off and Vincent stood back up on his hind legs. Gone was the man, replaced by an intimidating beast that could easily be a miniature Behemoth.

"Fascinating." Sephiroth breathed out. "No matter how many times I see it, I will never fail to be impressed."

In response, the beast merely roared, a hellish and echoing sound.

"What the hell is that thing!" Jessie screamed.

"That is the Galian Beast. One of the many experiments conducted on Vincent was a DNA splice with a Behemoth. When angered enough, his body transforms into what you see now."

"You made him do this on purpose!"

"Of course." Sephiroth said as he raised his sword again and began walking slowly towards the creature. "His increased strength comes at the loss of intelligence. He's a mindless animal now, and no matter how powerful, that is always easier to deal with than a dangerous man."

Yet again, the beast merely roared in answer as thick strings of drool dripped from its gaping maw. With a howl, it lunged forward, pumping thick muscled legs as it brought its heavy arm up to strike. With a jerk of his hand, Sephiroth sent the electrical whip into action, striking the Galian Beast's arm. The voltage band wrapped around the beasts muscle, jolting currents into its body, but the creature didn't seem to be phased very much. With a hard pull, the whip was yanked free from Sephiroth's grasp, the spell dissipating the moment it lost contact with its summoner.

Grimacing at the quick loss of his spell, Sephiroth touched his fingertips to a small red orb crafted into the hilt of his katana, with a whisper of words the materia sparked to life, sending flames licking up the blade. Another roar and the Galian beast leapt towards him before he was ready to attack. Throwing his weight back, Sephiroth flipped backwards, pushing off of the ground with his palms as they came down to launch him a good twenty feet away. The beast growled at him, apparently angry that he was making this so difficult, and began running towards him again. Bringing his sword up near his face in preparation, Sephiroth waited until the beast leapt once more, intending to tackle him. Just before it would have hit him, Sephiroth dropped to the ground and brought one leg up, slamming his foot into the beast's chest and kicking hard to the side, sending it tumbling out of its jump and onto the charred dirt.

Not wasting a moment, Sephiroth flipped to his feet and ran forward just as the beast stood up. Spinning, Sephiroth kicked his leg once more, intending to catch the monster in its jaw, but his leg was stopped in mid air by the strong grasp of the Galian Beast's gauntleted paw. Thrown off balance, Sephiroth barely managed to kick his other leg up, catching the monster off guard and hitting it hard in the neck. The beast stumbled back, letting go of his leg, allowing Sephiroth just enough time to kick the beast once more, giving him the momentum to flip backwards in the air and land on the ground in a crouch.

Without pausing for even a second, Sephiroth darted in and slashed hard to the left with the flaming Masamune, catching the beast across its chest. It howled in pain as the flames cauterized the long cut in its chest, momentarily slowing down its regenerative powers. Immediately, Sephiroth spun, bringing the nodachi from its sheath as he did so, and used the speed of his movement to send it plunging into the beast's chest just where its heart would lie. With a terrible roar, the monster fell to its knees, grasping the nodachi as Sephiroth muttered another spell and sent a current of electricity into the wound. The small blade was pulled free as the Galian Beast was thrown head over heels, rolling to a stop near Jessie, Tifa, and Cloud, all of whom became noticeably worried at its proximity to them. Then, with a whimpering sigh, the beast curled up into a fetal position and its muscles relaxed, as they watched, the strange transformation reversed, leaving the pale, and now very nude body of Vincent Valentine panting on the ground.

Stepping up to him slowly, Sephiroth sheathed his nodachi and twirled the Masamune to extinguish the flames on it before it too was put away. Vincent turned his shaking head up towards his opponent and coughed up blood, but made no move to fight back.

"Finish it." Valentine said. "Put me out of my misery."

"I told you before," Sephiroth said as he unlatched his trench coat. "I did not come here to fight, you gave me no choice in that matter. I want you to join us. Together, we can put an end to Hojo, Rufus, and the Empires treachery so that they cannot do to others what they did to you."

As Vincent glared, Sephiroth removed his long coat and draped it over him.

"I don't want your pity, Sephiroth." Vincent said, his voice becoming steadier as his breathing began to even out again. "You're a monster."

"Many could say the same thing about you, Valentine." Sephiroth responded. "At least you were able to try and stop them from turning you into a monster. They made me into one before I was even born. I never even had the chance to resist."

"Perhaps." Vincent said as he coughed and pushed himself into a sitting position as he slid into Sephiroth's coat. "But I still hate you."

"Then hate me if you must, but assist me nonetheless." Sephiroth said as he offered his hand to Vincent to help him stand. "And together we will bring hell to the Empire."

It was a long, tense moment before Vincent reached up and took Sephiroth's offered hand, using it to help him stand before he let go; the open chest of the black trench coat revealing that his wounds had already healed.

"Fine then. I will join your merry little band of rebels." Vincent then pointed his gauntleted finger at Sephiroth's face. "But know this, after I have dealt with Hojo and perhaps Rufus, you will be next. I'm not very happy about being locked in that box."

Sephiroth didn't respond to that threat, instead he only turned to the others and motioned for them to come. Tifa and Jessie looked at each other with no small amount of concern in their eyes before helping Cloud to his feet, and together the unlikely party began the trek back to the Outlaw City, Corel.

* * *

Nearly three days of healing spells and rest since they had first loosed Vincent from his prison and Cloud had finally recovered from the injuries he'd sustained. Now he sat at a table in a small room at the top of one of the taller buildings in Outlaw City. To his left and right were Tifa and Jessie, and across the table was Vincent, who he stared at with much contempt.

"Alright, we're here." Cloud said to Vincent with not a little agitation. "Unless you're planning to kick my ass again, why don't you start explaining what it is I'm supposed to hear from you?"

"As you wish." Vincent said, his voice once again emotionless. At least he'd taken the time to clean himself up somewhat. After some time in the sun, he wasn't quite as pale anymore. Rather than a suit, he now wore solid black clothing that somewhat resembled a soldiers riot gear, and over that a long red mantle with a high rising collar that hid the bottom of his chin. In fact, if it weren't for him keeping the gold tinted gauntlet over his left arm, his long hair, and the crimson eyes, he could have passed as a completely different person.

"Before you start," Jessie broke in. "Are you _the_ Vincent Valentine?"

"I'm sure the name is not unique to me, so you'll have to elaborate more than that."

"Okay." Jessie said in a quieter tone, obviously a bit embarrassed at her self. "I've read about a criminal who died over thirty years ago. His name was Vincent Valentine, they called him the Crimson Killer."

"So that's the story they wove for me." Vincent scoffed. "I was known by that title, yes, but I was no criminal. I was the founder of the Turks, and led them for many years."

"That's fascinating." Cloud said flatly. "Now, where the hell do I come into this?"  
Jessie gave the obnoxious blond a dirty look, but with her question answered, she sat back and let Vincent tell his story.

"You come into the story five years ago." Vincent said as he looked to Cloud. "Up until that point, I had been in some sort of glass chamber in the laboratory. The fluids in the chamber kept me sedated so that Hojo and his team were free to continue their experiments without worry. One day the chamber malfunctioned, and I escaped. The scientists tried to drug me, but with the chamber broken, my regenerative power was too strong for their medicine. I broke out and killed them all, but not before one of them sealed the door to the mansion, and so I was trapped."

"You were the reason we were sent to Nibelheim, then." Cloud pieced that much together easily. "That's why the mission was classified, and why Hojo and Sephiroth came along."

"Yes." Vincent acknowledged. "Sephiroth entered the mansion and came down to the laboratory to fight me."

"What about Hojo?"

"Hojo is a coward." Vincent snarled. "He hid, but he probably chose a place where he could watch our battle. I'm sure the notes he must have taken made him ecstatic."

"And Sephiroth was able to lock you into that box we found you in?"

"Again, yes." Vincent's lips twitched. "But not before I revealed things to him that he wasn't supposed to know."

"About his origins, I know. I heard you two babbling about it during your fight. What is that about?"

"Sephiroth is the result of a project Hojo ran called Omega." Vincent quietly stated. "A half human, half Ancient imbued with immense magical powers from the infusion of raw mako, as well as a Jenova sample, directly into his body from before he was born up until he was seven years old."

"An Ancient?" Tifa gasped. "I've always been told that they went extinct centuries ago!"

"That in itself is not so much a lie, as a misjudgment." Vincent clarified. "They were believed to be extinct until a female of the species was discovered. It was considered a fluke until a second female was found several years later."

"So, you're saying that the Ancients still exist out there?" Jessie was awestruck.

"In some capacity, yes." He nodded. "But no one knows how many or where. Or, at the very least, they didn't when I was a Turk. I don't know what the Empire has learned since then."

"Okay then, I have a question." Cloud said, remembering what he and Zach had witnessed in Midgar. "I've seen the Empire infuse processed mako into demons in order to make them stronger, but what's this Jenova?"

"All I know is that a sample of it was given to Hojo by Rufus for use in the Omega project." Vincent replied. "What it is, precisely, I don't know. It was never mentioned in the documentation. The purpose of all this was to create a perfect soldier to lead Rufus' army, but there was also another agenda." Vincent continued. "He was designed from birth to be capable of leading Rufus to two great sources of power that would make Rufus unstoppable."

"What power?" Cloud asked.

"I do not know. It was not documented, and I never overheard the scientists speak of it. I don't believe most of them knew."

"How do you know all of this?" Tifa spoke up.

"I was…friends with the second Ancient female, the one who was to be used as the mother for the Omega project." Vincent said, a slight hint of pain in his words. "I tried to help her escape, and became another of Hojo's projects as a result. I also watched the project proceed for many years from my chamber."

"Why'd you tell Sephiroth about all of that?" Jessie inquired.

"I expected the information to make him turn against the Empire, and I had hoped he would set me free as a result." Vincent shook his head, remembering. "It didn't work out that way. After confining me in the box, he went through the lab and found documentation to confirm what I had told him. He read through the reports and logs of the Omega project for days. Eventually, the things he read made his mind snap. He began babbling, and stalked out of the laboratory."

"So it was your fault he destroyed Nibelheim!" Cloud shouted, slamming his hands down on the table as he stood from his chair. "You're the reason all those people died!"

"Settle down, Cloud." Tifa soothed as she placed a hand on his. "You can't blame him. He didn't know that would happen."

"And I guess I shouldn't blame Sephiroth either because he was just having a bad day, huh?" Cloud yelled at the girl.

"I don't know." Tifa said quietly as she shied back into her chair and looked down at the table. "Maybe we shouldn't."

"Tifa," Cloud said as that 'we' made him remember that he wasn't the only one who'd mourned for the people of Nibelheim. He sat down and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you."

"It's okay." She said, looking back to him with a weak smile, and teary eyes. "I know, you're just angry in general. I'm used to it."

"Continuing on." Vincent spoke up, bringing that little scene to a close. "From my box, I saw Hojo come into the laboratory a day later. He was a bit worried, as Sephiroth had apparently ran off. He feared what would happen if he returned to Midgar and told Rufus that his precious project was gone."

"So," Cloud sighed. "What did he do?"

"He decided," Vincent paused and looked directly into Cloud's face. "To make a replacement."

"What?" Cloud asked quietly as his blood went cold.

"Hojo brought the body of a Shinra soldier into the ruined laboratory." Vincent said, watching as Cloud's face grew pale. "The boy had apparently been killed trying to attack Sephiroth."

"No." Cloud whispered. As flashes of those nightmarish memories came back to him, once again the question resounded in his head. _Why can't I remember what happened after I ran at Sephiroth?_ "That just can't be."

"Hojo experimented on you." Vincent continued, ignoring Cloud's denial. "It took him several months, but he was able to create a makeshift duplicate of the Omega project by using many of the same techniques he had for the original. You were kept in some sort of suspended animation during the procedures so that you wouldn't decay."  
"Shut up!" Cloud shouted, once again slamming his fists into the table. "You're lying!"

"Why would I lie?" Vincent asked, his voice cold but honest. "I have nothing to gain from it."

"But, this just can't be true!"

"I'm sorry, but it is." Vincent insisted. "Hojo knew you wouldn't be even close to Sephiroth's power simply because the circumstances were severely different, so he decided to try something new."

Cloud said nothing this time; he merely stared at the table as he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"Using samples of blood that he found from our battle, Hojo tampered with your genetics." Vincent said. "Through magic and science, he merged you with a sample of that blood. The result was somewhat of a clone of the original Omega, at least on a genetic level."

"Oh my god." Tifa breathed out, her voice trembling. "Sephiroth?"

"Yes." Vincent nodded. "Of course, you weren't half Ancient like he was, but his blood corrected that. With his work finished, Hojo reanimated his makeshift replacement using the same methods he used on me."

"No!" Cloud shouted again, suddenly grasping the table and throwing it over, prompting everyone to jump up and away. "I don't believe you! This is bull----! I'm Cloud Strife, not some damn clone!"

"You are both." Vincent said coolly. "Just accept it and stop running from your past."

"But I don't remember any of it!" Cloud yelled, even as he thought of the many flashes of recollection he'd had in the mansion and the laboratory that gave weight to Vincent's claims.

"You were dead." Vincent bluntly reminded him. "You would have no actual memory of what happened until you were revived; only fragmented images and brief moments of insight. Hojo also erased the memory of your death itself so that you wouldn't be able to recall that either."

"It's not possible." Cloud shook his head in firm denial, even as Vincent's words rang true in his ears. He simply couldn't accept this.

"It is, and I can prove it." A voice came from the doorway and those gathered in the room turned to see Sephiroth standing there with his arms folded over his chest. "Just like me, you were meant to bring Rufus to the prizes he sought, and just like me you seemed to lack the ability. Until recently, that is."

"I don't need to hear anything from you!" Cloud barked, but it was clear from his tone of voice that he was shaken. "I've had enough of this!"

Cloud began to march towards the exit, clearly not interested anymore now that Sephiroth had made his presence known, but Tifa grabbed his hand and stopped him from leaving with a heartfelt look of sorrow. She didn't enjoy being around the man any more than he did, but she wanted to hear what he had to say about all of this.

"Several weeks ago I had a vision of a forest covered in snow, and felt an intense pull on my body." Sephiroth said as Cloud grudgingly stopped his attempt to leave. "It lasted only seconds. You saw this as well, didn't you?"

Cloud only stared at Sephiroth with an intense look of anger and confusion on his face. He remembered the pain he'd felt in his head, and the vision flashing through his mind when he, Zach, and Tifa had sat in her bar the day before this mad journey had begun. He simply didn't want to answer the question because of who was asking it.

"I thought as much." Sephiroth said, able to read Cloud's thoughts rather easily. "That was what Hojo had not expected. Apparently, the only time we can sense the power, and thus be led to it, is when it is used. With this in mind, that purpose for us is now obsolete as Rufus too can sense this power when it is used. He claims that this trip he is currently on is for him to visit his loyal subjects across the Empire, but that is a lie. The truth behind his journey is that he now knows where his long sought after prize is located, and he is going to claim it."

"I..." Cloud faltered, not knowing what to say. There was no denying it. Vincent and Sephiroth's story clicked perfectly, making all the pieces fall together. This was why he couldn't remember the months from when he'd attacked Sephiroth to when he returned to Midgar, this was why he'd caught up to Zach's level of skill so quickly, this was why Rufus hadn't wanted to kill him, and this was why Sephiroth had said that he had been drawn to Corel. Somehow, because of Hojo's genetic splicing, they were connected, causing him to be drawn to wherever Sephiroth was.

Knowing that he was obviously in terrible mental turmoil, Tifa slowly placed her hand on his arm. She didn't know what to say, exactly, learning the truth of what had happened to Cloud during the months he'd been missing was horrifying to her; she couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like for him.

"I have to go." Cloud said quickly, turning and briskly exiting the room before anyone could argue.

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted, worry filling her eyes as she ran after him.

* * *

Running quickly, Tifa caught up to Cloud before he'd managed to get very far. Grabbing his arm, she brought him to a stop midway down a set of stairs that would lead him outside.

"Leave me alone, Tifa." Cloud said without turning to look at her.

"No," She said sternly. "You need some one with you right now."

"Why should I? I'm just a damn monster, like Sephiroth and Vincent."

"You're not a monster." Tifa quietly stated. "Even if it is true that Hojo did all those things to you, you're still Cloud."

"I'm not even human anymore, Tifa." Cloud said, his voice beginning to break. "I'm not the person you grew up with."

"That's not true!" Tifa quickly said, her lower lip trembling slightly. "Maybe they did things to your body, but not your mind! You're still just as funny and stubborn as you always have been! You're still my best friend!"

"You don't want to be friends with a dead man, Tifa."

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted as she broke down into tears. "I don't care about any of that! You're here now, and that's all that matters!"

"No, it's not all that matters!" Cloud yelled as he slammed his fist into the wall with enough force to leave cracks. "I'm a freak, and I'm a ----ing lie! That's what matters!"

"But I love you, Cloud!" Tifa yelled letting those words come out for the first time, as she hugged herself and continued to cry. "Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Tifa." Cloud said quietly as his head dropped, he'd known that one day she would break down and outright say it, but why did it have to be now? "You shouldn't love me. I can't be what you want me to be. Not now."

Tifa took a step back at his words, her beautiful face contorting with pain as her lips shook. Then, without another word, she ran past him and out of the building with her hands to her face to catch the tears streaming down her red cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Tifa." Cloud whispered to no one as he slumped down to a seat on the stairs and anguish washed over his face.

* * *

As Cloud and Tifa left the room, Jessie turned to follow them, but then thought better of it. They could probably use a moment alone.

"Your name is Jessie, correct?"

Startled, she spun around to see Vincent standing directly in front of her.

"Y-yes." She stuttered, intimidated by both the power she'd seen him display before, and his sheer height.

"I have heard that you're some sort of mechanic, is this true?"

"I'm an engineer." Jessie said with confusion evident on her face. "Why?"

Not saying a word, Vincent reached into his mantle and withdrew an object from it. When Jessie saw what it was, her eyes went wide. It didn't look the same as the modern incarnations, but it was clearly a materia gun.

"This was the weapon I used as a Turk." Vincent said. "It's called a gun."

"Yeah, I know." Jessie said, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice. She'd never seen one this close before. "All the Turks have them."

"Really?" Vincent asked. "This was the only one that existed when I led them. Hojo removed the materia and a few other components from it so that it wouldn't work, and then dropped it into my box. He enjoyed tormenting me like that. I was wondering if you might be able to repair it?"

"I don't know." Jessie honestly replied. "But I can give it a try."

"Very well." Vincent extended his hand to her and placed the weapon in her all-to-eager palms. "I leave it in your care."

With that, Vincent silently walked towards the door and opened it to leave.

"Vincent." Jessie said suddenly, causing him to stop. "What happened to your friend, the Ancient girl?"

"Lucrecia." Vincent said, going silent for a moment afterwards. "When the experiments first began, Hojo was able to control me. After Lucrecia was no longer needed for the Omega project he locked her in the room with me and released me from my chamber."

"What happened?" Jessie whispered, though she was sure she already knew the answer.  
"He made me kill her." And with that, Vincent walked out the door.

The room went silent again, and Jessie stared after him in shock. It came to her all at once, Vincent was no monster, he was a victim; perhaps the worst victim in this entire mess. Just like her parents, he had learned things that cost him his life, but that hadn't been enough for the Empire; they brought him back, and made him suffer worse. In her quest for revenge, she'd shut out her emotions, believing that they would only interfere and cause her more pain. Now, she felt utterly ashamed of herself for doing so. She had shunned the privileges that made her human, yet here was a man who hadn't been given that choice; his emotions, his humanity, had been stolen from him, she could imagine nothing more horrible. Jessie glanced at Sephiroth, wondering what he thought of it all, but he continued to silently stare out the window. Looking down at the broken gun in her hands, she let out a heavy sigh and left the room to go get her tools.


	5. Chapter V Take Off to the Sky

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for chapter VI.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Chibi Taryn Demon for a very kind review!

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or send them directly to me. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter V

Take Off to the Sky

Unease hung thickly in the air after the revelations that Vincent had brought to light. Although he had now agreed to do what he could to help put an end to Rufus, even if that meant working with a man he hated so passionately, Cloud had become distant. He was unwilling to talk to anyone about the traumatic experiences that happened to him in Nibelheim that he'd been reminded of. Unfortunately, the only person who knew him well enough to help him through this was the one he had pushed away.

During these depressing days, Jessie had been working feverishly on Vincent's gun, hoping against hope that she would be able to figure out what had once made it tick so that she could rebuild it. She was making progress, to be sure, and was even starting to believe that she could make it better than it once had been; after all, the design was archaic by modern day standards. So far, though, the gun was the only thing that had progressed at all. Jessie had been trying to talk to the seemingly soulless man in the hopes that he'd open up some. Unfortunately he was much like Sephiroth in that respect; quiet and detached.

Placing her tools down next to the disassembled weapon, Jessie ran her hands over her face in an attempt to rub away her sleepiness. Soon she would be calling it a day, and that meant it was time to go find Vincent and tell him how his gun was coming along. She'd made it a point to tell him about how it was going for the past two days, hoping that it might spark some sort of conversation, but so far he hadn't seemed too interested. Still, it was the best shot she had at getting to him, so she'd keep trying. Stepping towards the door to her room, she was just about to open it when a knock came. Looking surprised, she turned the knob and looked out to see Jeran standing in her doorway.

"Evening, Jessie." The former Turk said. "Hope I'm not disturbing you?"  
"No, actually I was just about to leave." She said as she opened the door completely. "What's up?"

"My sources have the information we've been waiting for. I'm gathering everyone into the conference room to plan our next step."

"Hope the tables been fixed." She said, remembering how Cloud had tossed it in anger.

"It has been." Jeran responded, either not realizing that she was joking, or just not caring. "I assume you'll want to be in on it?"

"You bet your ass I do." Jessie said as she stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "I haven't come this far just to back out now. Who else have you contacted so far?

"Sephiroth, Cloud, and Vincent should be there by the time you arrive."

"What about Tifa?"

"I wasn't planning on involving her." Jeran said, looking a little surprised at Jessie's mention of the girl. "She's never been a soldier, so she doesn't have much business being involved. Besides, from what I hear her emotions are running crazy. Not good for the battlefield."

"And you think Cloud's head is clear after all he's found out?" Jessie scowled, a little angry at Jeran for writing the girl off. "I wasn't a soldier either, you know? Tifa's a tough girl, and she can hold her own in a fight. There's no way you're cutting her out."

"Fine, fine." Jeran raised his hands up in surrender, then turned and walked away. "Stop and pick her up on your way back, I'll meet you up there."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Jerk" Jessie said flatly, muttering that last part under her breath. What was it with guy's assuming that girls couldn't fight just because they showed some emotion? Tifa could kick his ass in a fist fight, she'd wager.

Annoyed, Jessie walked down the dusty streets of old Corel. Tifa's room was on the second story of a small inn, not too far from the building that the conference room was in, so she'd just stop there on the way. Jessie prepared herself as she went; Tifa had spent the last several days inside her room, coming out only to eat. From what Jessie had been able to gather, Tifa had never spoken of her feelings for Cloud out in the open, always worried that he may not feel the same way about her. Over the years the girl had left little clues and tests for him, hoping to discover how he felt, but the boy was either extremely hard-headed, or attempting to avoid the subject. Now that Tifa had at last put her heart out on the line, she'd been shot down. No matter how strong of mind and body she was, she hadn't able to handle hearing Cloud deny her the one thing she'd always longed for. However, Jessie had a feeling there was more to Cloud's turn-down than met the eye.

* * *

There was music playing somewhere in the city and she'd been listening to the distant rhythm for at least an hour now; it was helping to keep her mind off of the single thing that had been running through it for days now. 

_You shouldn't love me. I can't be what you want me to be. Not now._ Just thinking about what he'd said in response to her declaring her love for him made her want to cry again. Aside from occasionally going downstairs to eat, the only thing she'd done to keep herself busy was practicing her martial arts. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to meditate beforehand, and that was making it difficult for her to keep focused. All she'd really managed to do was replay that short talk over and over again, and wonder if she'd just thrown away most of her life. For as far back as she could remember, she'd been in love with Cloud, even when they were children she'd always had a crush on him. They'd been together since before they could remember it, even staying with one another when Cloud had moved to Midgar.

She'd hidden her true feelings for so long and had remained his closest friend, always telling herself that one day the time would be right for her to express herself. The time hadn't been right, she knew that even when she'd said it, but Cloud was in pain, and she thought that telling him would help. Now she cried herself to sleep, wondering what would happen between them. Could he go back to being best friends, forgetting about what she'd said? Could she? Tifa kept telling herself that it would work out, that somehow, everything would be alright in the end, but as the hours went by she was finding it harder and harder to believe that. This was the first real break they'd had since this journey began, and now her sudden depression was causing her to think more about Zach's death, which she'd tried to put off until now. Her emotions were running high, and she felt more like a helpless little girl right now than the powerful, skilled woman she was supposed to be.

Tifa was lying in her bed, wearing her normal attire as she hadn't bothered changing clothes for over a day, mulling over all those things when a knock came at her door. Startled out of her thoughts, she rolled to the edge of the bed and stood, wondering who would be here this late at night. Tucking a few stray strands of hair behind one ear, she pulled the door open.

"Jessie?" Tifa asked in surprise. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Jeran wants us all to meet him; he has some news for us to hear." Jessie explained before a look of concern crossed her features. "You okay, Tifa? Your cheeks are all red."

"Oh," Tifa muttered, putting on a fake smile as she did so. "It's just a little hot in here, that's all."

"Uh-huh." Jessie said, her tone making it clear that she didn't buy it. "Look, I might not cry much, but I know what it looks like."

Tifa averted her eyes, her head dropping slightly as she fixated her gaze on the floor.

"I heard what happened." Jessie said, trying to sound consoling. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Tifa said quietly. "I thought he'd feel the same way, and I was wrong, that's all."

"Do you really believe that?" Jessie said, her mouth forming a thin line.

"What?" Tifa blinked and looked up, her slender brows creasing. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Tifa." Jessie shook her head. "I'm not an expert on love or anything, but if you can't tell that Cloud has feelings for you, then you must be blind."

"I'm his friend." Tifa said, then muttered. "He probably thinks of me like a sister."

"That'd be kind of sick if he did, because you aren't supposed to look at your sister like that."

"Huh?" Those words sent Tifa back a bit, not knowing what the other girl was referring to.

"Listen Tifa, it's no small secret that you're a good looking woman. Hell, at the risk of making you worry about me, I'll even say you're pretty nice on the eyes."

"Uhm." Tifa's cheeks turned redder, only this time it really was from heat. "Thanks."

"I've seen Cloud looking you over on more than one occasion." Jessie chuckled, remembering one specific occurrence where she caught Cloud staring right at Tifa's ass, but she wasn't going to say that much out loud. "And I'm pretty sure he was about to stab Jeran when you first met him."

"Why do you say that?" Tifa asked, obviously not catching the drift.

"When Jeran shook your hand, Cloud looked pretty annoyed." Jessie grinned. "And don't tell me he was just being an over-protective pal; he was showing some Grade A jealousy, and you don't get jealous over 'just friends'."

"You think he loves me?" Tifa questioned, not sounding so sure.

"I don't know about that, but there's definitely something there."

"Then why would he reject me?"

"Well, he had just found out some pretty messed up stuff. Maybe he just wasn't thinking straight."

"Maybe." Tifa said, realizing that she hadn't really considered that, though it was a rather obvious possibility.

"Look, I don't know _why_ he turned you down, but I'm sure he has a good reason. I don't think he'd hurt you without one." Jessie put a hand on the other girls arm in a comforting gesture that was out of place for her. "Let him calm down, give him a little space while he sorts things out, and try not to worry about it. Sooner or later, he'll come around."

"Okay." Tifa smiled again, a genuine one this time, as moisture built up in her eyes. Wiping at the tears with her sleeve, she actually leaned forward and hugged the engineer, which seemed to give her a slight shock. "Thanks Jessie, I needed that. I was getting too pink-dresses and bows there."

That comment actually made Jessie laugh, a melodic sound that didn't seem all that characteristic of an engineer, terrorist, or rebel, but it sounded wonderful nonetheless.

"Good." Jessie said as she patted Tifa on the back and pulled her out of the room and into the hallway of the inn. "You need your head on straight and those muscles ready to kick some ass, because I think it's time to go---- Rufus off."

* * *

Entering the room, it was clear that Jeran had been right; the four men were already gathered, waiting for them. As Jessie and Tifa slipped into their seats, coincidentally next to one another and across from Cloud, Jessie couldn't help but notice something peculiar. Now that he'd learned of his nature, Cloud seemed to have joined Sephiroth and Vincent in the 'cold-shoulder club', sitting quietly and looking detached. Sephiroth sat at the opposite end of the table, far away from the rest of them, and Vincent was between the former general and Cloud, perhaps to keep the young blond from trying to tear the silver haired man's head off. 

"Nice of you to join us." Jeran spoke up, obviously impatient. "What took you so long?"  
"Detour." Jessie said without hesitation. "Doesn't matter, let's just get going, shall we?"

"Very well." Jeran looked annoyed, but didn't let it interfere with his cliché, cool guy demeanor. "I received word earlier today from one of my contacts; we know where Rufus is heading now."

"Where?" Cloud said in a way that clearly showed he was only halfway here.

"A small village in the Frozen North called Icicle." Jeran responded. "My sources tell me he has only two more stops on his way there, so we don't have much time."

"How do we know that this information is accurate?" Vincent asked without taking his eyes from the table where they'd been fixed the entire time.

"It came directly from Rufus' tower in Midgar, from one of my top two contacts. I have complete faith in the accuracy of this report." Jeran nodded, his official speech making him sound a bit defensive; perhaps being in the presence of the founder of the Turks was making him act more professional? "Besides that, the village being located in the Frozen North gives credence to the visions that Sephiroth and Cloud have had."

"There are many forests covered in snow." Sephiroth pointed out. "They are not exclusive to the Frozen North."

"No, but my contact knows nothing about your visions. I'm confident that this information is correct."

"What does it matter?" Jessie said, bringing a bit of realism to the discussion. "The Frozen North isn't exactly across the street. Without proper transportation it could take us a month to get to this village. If Rufus only has two more stops left, he's going to get there long before we could."

"I expect Rufus to arrive at his destination in approximately nine days." Jeran confirmed.

"Then how are we supposed to do anything about this?" Cloud asked a scowl on his face. "Don't tell me we're supposed to just let him go get whatever this thing is."

"Of course not." Jeran said, his voice once again defensive. "I've already devised a plan."

"What is it?" Tifa asked, finally getting into the conversation.

"My contact had realized we would be well behind Rufus too." Jeran said as he pulled a paper out of one of his pockets and unfolded it into a map of the world. "So he gave me another bit of information that we should be able to exploit."

"We're here in Outlaw City," Jeran said, marking the map at their current location before making another mark on the northern most continent. "Icicle village is here. Obviously that distance is too much for us, and we don't have transportation, so we'll need to get some."

"What are you planning?" Vincent asked, finally diverting his eyes to look over the map.

"My contact gave me the coordinates of a military base near a small town called Rocket." Jeran moved his hand back to their current continent and made a mark past the Nibel Mountains, near the west coast. "It looks like it's nothing, but apparently there are several big experimental projects being worked on there."

"Like a transport?" Cloud asked, catching on as he leaned over to get a closer look at the map. It seemed he was acting more like his old self right now, perhaps keeping his mind on business would let him act normal for a while.

"Exactly." Jeran confirmed as he looked around at all the people at the table. "An experimental airship called the XGP has been in construction there for some time. It's a military ship, so it's fast and well armed. The base doesn't have a lot of security either, because they're trying not to draw attention to it."

"We're going to bust in and steal it?" Jessie asked, her eyes lighting up as thoughts of an advanced military machine danced through her head.

"Yes, and with any luck, it will be a completely covert ops mission. In and out before they even know what's hit them."

"With any luck?" Tifa repeated, noting that their information man didn't sound all that sure. "What's the catch?"

"The catch?" Jeran stared at her, seeming surprised that she'd caught on so quickly. "There's only one person who knows how to pilot the thing; you'll have to get the ship's creator. A man named Cid Highwind."

"Cid?" Jessie asked, her face going white instantly as that name brought up memories of her past in Junon. Tifa apparently connected the dots too, because she looked over at her with worry as she placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder. Jessie's parents had died because her father had overheard talk about a new type of airship that was being built by a man named Cid.

"Yes." Jeran confirmed. He too knew about Jessie's past, and so he pieced the puzzle together for her. "This airship was originally being constructed in Junon as an advanced civilian transport. This guy, Cid, apparently wasn't happy about it being turned into a military project, so they moved him and the ship to the base near Rocket so they could force him to finish the design. I don't know all the details, so I have no idea if he will willingly assist you or not."

"When are we going?" Jessie asked, her mouth set in a firm line. For the first time since her parent's death, she was suddenly in the middle of an explanation of what they had learned.

"We're on a tight schedule." Jeran said as he marked one more spot on the map, very close to where he'd said the base was. "The five of you will be leaving first thing in the morning and heading straight to this point. There you will rendezvous with my contact."

"Your source left Midgar to meet us there?" Vincent asked, sounding suspicious. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Very." Jeran nodded. "There's a good chance he won't be able to return to the Empire after this, but it was important that he be there. There's more information that you'll need to know in order to plan the attack, and he wasn't able to securely send so much. When you meet him, he'll explain the rest, and will assist you in capturing the XGP."

"So I guess we should get a good night of sleep." Tifa said quietly.

"Indeed." Jeran jotted down more precise coordinates under the rendezvous point before folding the map up and handing it to Sephiroth. "I'll be staying here to monitor my contacts while you're out so that I can make sure no one knows about this mission. Do what Tifa said and get plenty of sleep, tomorrow will mark a new day for us. We're going on the offensive."

* * *

With a loud burst of its horn, and a mighty push of its steam powered engines, the HSIN Gloriosa left another city behind. Rufus could still hear the adoring cheers and farewells of the people who stood on the docks, their voices carried on the cool evening breeze. Surely his visit to their small city would be the highlight of their short, fragile lives. 

A heavy sigh left his lips as he turned away from the edge of his boat, stepping down from his platform and walking across the deck. Rude, his faithful body guard, and Kuro, his loyal pet, followed closely behind him as he made his way to his personal quarters, guarded by two soldiers in Imperial dress blues. The soldiers, one man and one woman, saluted him with great respect before the man opened the door and held it. Rufus nodded his thanks, a gesture that would undoubtedly make the soldier swell with pride, as he stepped through.

Behind him, Rude closed the door as Rufus sank down into one of the many finely crafted chairs that decorated the lavish room. Kuro padded his way into the corner and curled up on a large cushion that had been laid out for him. Now within the warm embrace of his private rooms, which were thankfully designed to keep all noise from coming in or going out through the marble walls, Rufus at last lost his temper.

"I am astounded at the lack of precision my military has to offer." He said with contempt for his own soldiers. "And I'm terribly vexed as to how the local authorities are even _worse_."

Rufus had hidden his anger well in the public eye, as should be expected; after all, he was a master of lies and manipulation. Now being in the presence of those who knew his darker side, he felt the need to express his disappointment with his wondrous subjects.

"You should have expected them to fail." Rude said, pointing out the simple fact that regular soldiers and police weren't up to the task that had been appointed to them. "Cloud was designed in Sephiroth's image, after all. They're no match for him."

"They should have at least spotted him!" Rufus pounded a fist into the arm of his chair, causing the wood to splinter. "He still hasn't lived up to his potential like Sephiroth did."

"No, but he was trained very well. Even a normal member of our Special Operations unit would be hard to catch or kill, let alone one with the innate abilities he carries."

"Obviously, I was careless to leave Hojo to watch over him." Rufus sighed. "That fool would forget to eat if he could do his research without food."

"Do you think he planned this?" Rude pondered out loud. "Like the time he let Valentine escape his confinement so that he could test Sephiroth's strength?"

"No." Rufus said, his expression turning dark as he recalled one of the Professors more ignorant experiments. "No, he learned his lesson for that idiotic scheme. This time it was just an oversight. He was probably too busy tweaking one of his precious experiments to bother keeping tabs on the second most important thing he ever created."

"To be fair, we did leave Midgar rather suddenly. Hojo probably wasn't too concerned with watching over Cloud because he expected us to be there in case something went wrong."

"Even still," Rufus fumed. "He should know better. I haven't kept the Empire in order for nearly a hundred years by making careless mistakes and I won't tolerate such from my subordinates; even those as brilliant and crucial as Hojo. He's becoming a liability."

"Are you planning to have him removed?" Rude asked, his hairless brows rising in question.

"No. Not yet." Rufus mused. "I'm sure that whatever Reno decided to do to him got the message through for now."

Standing from his chair, Rufus walked to a large window that looked out over the ocean as they sailed towards the next city, now so close to his true destination. Placing his hands behind his back and folding them, he took in a deep breath, marveling in the beauty of the waves and the clear sky as the sun began to dip, spilling orange and pink hues across the waters.

"It doesn't really right now." He said after a long moment of relaxation that allowed his mind to clear and center once more on what was about to happen. "At long last, the first spell orb is within my grasp. Soon everything will change, and pests like Cloud and Hojo will no longer concern me."

* * *

It was late at night, a chilly breeze circulated through the air as the pale moonlight shone down upon the grassy plains. From this vantage point the lights of the town, Rocket, as well as the Shinra military base nearby, were distinctly visible. The darkness made it difficult to see much else, but it was just as well; if the party from Corel was going to sneak into a fortified area, it was better that visibility be low to help them avoid being seen. 

They had just arrived at the rendezvous point that Jeran had mapped out for them, which turned out to be nothing more than a derelict farm house that must have been left to rot years ago. On high guard due to their proximity to the base, they moved with silence and speed. Sephiroth was at point, motioning for the others to move with hand signals; not a word had been spoken in over an hour. Cloud hung back and away from the Butcher as much as he could. He was trying his best not to let his hatred interfere with the mission. With a nod from Vincent, who was covering him at the moment, Cloud ducked inside the broken down entrance to the old farm house, quickly looking for any signs of movement. It wasn't until after he felt it was safe that a man stepped out from behind a splintered old cabinet. Very few could have been so silent and hidden as to avoid his detection, which threw Cloud off balance.

"Step into the open." Cloud said in a commanding voice, not able to see more than an outline of the man in this darkness.

Obliging the order, the shadowy figure moved into the moonlight enough to be recognized. Fairly tall, and a little thin, with long black hair that was combed very straight and fell to his mid back. The man's skin was light, his features young but with an air of calm authority that few could muster. Brown eyes were oddly complimented by a black dot just above his brows at the center of his forehead, and he wore clothing that was all too familiar to any of them; the blue suit of a Turk.

"Tseng!" Cloud gasped in shock at who he was seeing. "You're-! Are you the contact!"

"Why else would I be here?" Asked the current Director of the Turks, a man widely known for his position and his exceptional skill at his job.

"Hello, Tseng." Sephiroth said, startling and aggravating Cloud as he stepped into the structure along with Vincent. "It's been quite a while since I've seen you."

"General." Tseng replied as he saluted the silver haired man out of respect for the title he had once held.

"Tseng?" Vincent asked, looking over the man with something between suspicion and contempt. "Isn't this the man who commands the Turks?"

"Yes." Tseng confirmed, but then corrected himself. "Or rather, I was. I won't be able to return to my duties after this."

"But Jeran said that you didn't believe any of this." Cloud said, turning his attention away from Sephiroth and back to the matter at hand. Behind him Tifa and Jessie stepped into the farm house as well. "That you turned against him because you had faith in the Empire."

"That was our cover up." Tseng explained. "We both learned of the Empire's secrets, and decided to research a rumor about a rebellion that was sparking in the mythical Outlaw City. I decided to stay in the Empire to provide Jeran with information, so we concocted his defection so that I could act as though I'd turned against him for the good of the Empire. It assured me my position in the Turks, and took a lot of attention off of me."

"It just keeps getting deeper, doesn't it?" Jessie scoffed.

"Why did you have to come here in person?" asked Cloud. He was intent on being suspicious of anyone who spoke to Sephiroth as a friend.

"If you are to succeed in this mission, you need detailed information." Tseng told him. "Detailed information is not something I can give through the network, it could have been intercepted."

"But now you can't go back at all." Tifa said. "Won't they know?"

"Yes." Tseng said as he sighed. "But this mission is vital if we are to stop Rufus from obtaining the treasure he seeks. I had to do this, even if it meant abandoning my position."

"We still have our other contact." Sephiroth said, trying to take some of the weight off of Tseng's shoulders. "So long as this mission is a success, your sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Yes. In which case, we should prepare." Tseng walked to an old table in the room and placed a large parchment on it; a map of the military base they were to infiltrate. Holding a small flashlight up, he centered its beam on a large building on the map. "As Jeran must have told you, the objective here is to commandeer the XGP, which is in this hangar."

"He said something about Cid Highwind." Jessie spoke up, her voice seeming desperate for more information on the man. "What's that all about?"

"Cid is the designer, engineer, and currently the only pilot for the XGP." Tseng explained. "He originally began work on the ship in the city of Junon. It was intended to be a transportation device. Division Two of the Turks took interest in it, though, and approached Cid about modifying it into a battle-air-ship."

"What happened?" Jessie asked, her tone a little softer as she remembered that time in her old city.

"Apparently, Cid refused. The Turks then took his wife hostage and moved the project here outside of Rocket. Since then, Cid has been forced into reworking the XGP to the Turks specifications."

"The Turks have truly fallen," Vincent seemed to growl, "if they now resort to blackmail."

"Vincent Valentine." Sephiroth answered the unspoken question that he knew must be in Tseng's mind right now.

"Ah." Tseng responded, seemingly not all that taken back by the presence of the founder of the Turks, and one of the oldest horror stories in the Empire. "Of course."

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Cloud grumbled in agitation. "How are we going to do this?"

"Yes. Well, as Cid is the only one who currently knows how to control the ship, we will have to get his assistance."

"Will he help us?" Tifa asked the question many of them were wondering.

"After what the Turks have done to him, I doubt very much that Cid has any love for the Empire." Tseng pointed at another building, much smaller than the XGP's hangar. "He should be located here; it's a three room house that he's confined in when he's not working on the ship. There are four guards around it at all times, one at each corner."

"So we sneak in, get him out, and then make our way to the hangar?" Cloud asked, thinking it sounded a little too easy.

"That's the idea, but there's no way of knowing how the situation will change once we're inside. Information about this project is very hard to come by. It took me months to dig up this much, and I have no way of knowing if anything has been left out."

"Wonderful." Jessie grumbled. "So what's our plan of attack?"

"The base's walls are ten feet high and extend around the entire perimeter." Tseng told them, tapping one spot on the walls just behind a larger building that was near Cid's 'house'. "But there isn't a great deal of soldiers inside. The base is meant to appear small so as not to draw any attention to the projects here. If we jump the wall at this point, we can get on top of the mess hall here. From there, some one should be able to get on top of Cid's building and slip inside."

"One person goes in and brings Cid out to the rest of us?" Tifa asked.

"Yes. Tt'd be too dangerous to send everyone inside his house at once."

"Who's going in?" Jessie asked.

"It would have to be some one who excels in stealth, but must also be able to convince Cid to aid us of his own free will."

Everyone seemed to look to Vincent and Sephiroth, both of whom could probably break in without making a sound, but to say that they weren't all that talkative would be a severe understatement. With their candidacy in question, all eyes turned towards Cloud, a former special-ops soldier who seemed to care quite a lot about the people of the Empire. Knowing exactly what the stares meant, Cloud sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.

"I guess I'm it."

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jessie whispered, sounding doubtful as she crouched on the top of the mess hall and looked down at two of the four guards that were stationed around Cid's 'house'. 

"Positive." Cloud said. "We used to do things like this in Special Ops all the time."

"Can you do it?" Tseng asked as he looked to Tifa, unsure of the strategy himself, although he had seen such things done before.

"Yeah." Tifa nodded. "Piece of cake, but I won't be able to hold it for more than a minute. Any longer than that, and we risk them noticing something changed in the environment when they come to."

"That should be plenty of time." Cloud said, looking over the small house with a determined expression. "Do it."

"Okay, here we go." Tifa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Spirits of time, hide us from the judging hand of God! Stop!"

As the spell was punctuated, the soldiers below froze completely, one in the middle of taking a step. Immediately, Cloud took a running leap off of the mess hall, landing with a light thump on the roof of the target building. Half a second was wasted as he brought his right hand down onto the shingles to balance himself, and then he was moving again. Pulling a small, light green materia orb that Tseng had given him from his pocket, he quickly scraped it over the roof, forming a large circle from the tiny fragments being broken away. When the circle was completed, he placed the now rough orb in the center and touched his fingertips to it, activating the magic sealed inside. With a rush of green liquid, the circle was filled and the bio spell cleanly ate through the roof causing the materia to fall down inside of the building. As the acidic effect wore off, Cloud placed his hands on the edges of the hole and dropped down inside of the house, finding himself in what appeared to be the bathroom. Scooping the bio materia up out of the sink where it had fallen, he pocketed it and cracked the door open just as Tifa would be dropping her stop spell on the soldiers outside.

Quietly opening the door, Cloud stepped into a room that was dimly lit by one lamp sitting in the far corner. Sweeping the décor with his lightly glowing eyes, he realized that he was standing in a combination living room and kitchen. There was a small coffee table in place before a couch with barely enough room for two people. Atop the table was some sort of portable oven. A tea pot sat on it, not currently in use. There were magazines and books tossed about everywhere, and a thick dust coating showed which items weren't used very often. In addition to the rest of the mess, there was a single desk cluttered with papers; design sketches, blue prints, and massive amounts of notes, most of which may as well have been in an alien language for as much sense as they made to him.

The one thing that was noticeably absent from the room was a living person, making Cloud look to the door to his right that would lead into the last room in the small house; likely a sleeping area. With his steps muffled by old carpeting, Cloud approached the door and opened it as quietly as he could, a thin line of light expanding through the new room as the lamp behind him shown into it. From here he could see a small cot that would make up the bed, and a mound of sheets and covers lumped up into it. It wasn't readily obvious whether or not this Cid character was asleep under those blankets or not, there wasn't enough light to see that clearly, so Cloud took another step forward, quietly sneaking into the room to find out. As he moved ahead a whooshing sound from his left made him instinctively duck out of the way as a thick pipe was swung through the air where his head had been a split second earlier. Cursing himself for his stupidity, Cloud rolled away and nearly hit the cot as the pipe was swung again.

"Stop!" Cloud said in a harsh whisper, trying not to raise his voice too high for fear of the guards hearing him outside.

"What the ---- are you doing in my house, you son of a -----?" Came the gravely voice of someone who must smoke far more than he should. Stepping into the small amount of light, Cid Highwind showed himself to be a rather intimidating figure. Although he was in his forties, he was muscled from head to toe, and looked as if he could bench press Cloud if he wanted to. If he had dressed for bed, Cloud couldn't tell, the man was wearing a thick pair of olive pants with pockets all over them and a blue short sleeved shirt that accented his muscles. Around his forehead was a pair of pilot's goggles, a red pack of cigarettes stuck into them, clashing madly with his graying blond hair. He held the thick pipe in brown gloved hands, and glared at Cloud with a look of crazed anger on his face.

"Keep your voice down!" Cloud snapped, realizing the he was being too loud himself. Continuing in a softer tone, he tried to explain. "My name is Cloud Strife, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Great!" Cid barked, not lowering his makeshift weapon at all. "I ain't buying any of your ----in' Girl Scout cookies!"

"I came here for the XGP." Cloud said, annoyed at Cid's insult but hoping mention of the secret project would calm the other man somewhat. "So I need your help."

"Oh so you just want my ship, is that it!" Cid yelled as he took another swing, causing Cloud to jump back further. "What the ---- is it with you assholes! Can't I finish a single damn project in peace!"

"Cid, settle down!" Cloud hissed. "The guards will hear you! Look, I know you're the only person who can pilot the XGP-"

"Highwind!" Cid cut him off, enraged over the Imperial code name for his machine. "The goddamn ship is called the Highwind!"

"Fine, fine!" Cloud held his hands up in the air, trying to show that he wasn't here to cause trouble. "Look, me and my team outside are trying to stand up to the Empire."

"I know who you are now, dip----!" Cid spat at him. "Reeves told me you were coming!"

"Reeves?" Cloud asked, not recognizing the name. "Who the hell is that?"

"----, what kind of ----in' organization are you?" Cid said and swung the pipe again for good measure. "Don't even know your own damn people!"

"Sorry!" Cloud groaned, making sure to keep distance between himself and the seemingly homicidal man. "My contact is a man named Tseng, I don't know who this Reeves guys is, but whatever. We're going to get you and the Highwind out of here."

"What about Sherra?" He said as he finally lowered the pipe. "No damn way I'm leaving without her."

"Who's Sherra?" Cloud asked, not recalling the name.

"My wife, you little ----!" Cid barked again, deciding to swing the pipe at Cloud once more, out of spite. "She's in another building on this base. If she doesn't go, I don't go!"

"Okay, okay! God, sorry, I didn't know she was here!" Cloud groaned. "And would you please stop swinging that thing at me? I'm trying to help you here!"

"Yeah, only because you want my ship!" Cid tossed the pipe onto his cot and stepped past Cloud, kneeling down beside an odd object that seemed very out of place in his room; a large stuffed cat, black and white with a huge grin on its face, and a tiny gold crown on its head.

"What are you doing?" Cloud asked as he watched Cid pick up the stuffed toy and squeeze one of its paws.

"Reeves gave it to me." Cid said as if it should have been obvious. "It's a com-line. Sherra has the other end. We aren't allowed to see each other more than once a week, so this is the only way we can talk."

As Cid began speaking into the cat's paw, telling his wife that help had arrived and they were going to escape tonight, Cloud shook his head and sighed as he quietly walked back to the bathroom and prepared to signal Tifa to 'Stop' the guards once more so they could climb back out.

_Why the hell does everything have to be so damn complicated?

* * *

_

After the initial confusion, Tseng had explained to them that Reeves, the man Cid had mentioned, was Jeran's second contact in Midgar and a major player in the Imperial government. Apparently, Tseng and Reeves rarely ever spoke to one another; their jobs didn't allow them to cross paths often, and being seen together would arouse suspicion. Tseng had come to the conclusion that Reeves must have caught wind of his plan to steal the XGP and had some how contacted Cid to let him know what was happening. Regardless, Cid's story seemed to check out. All that remained now was figuring out what to do next. After quite a bit of arguing the party finally agreed on a plan of action, and so they had split up into a three pronged attack. Knowing that Cid had to be present when they took the Highwind, he and Sephiroth had headed towards the ships hangar. Cloud, Tifa, and Tseng had agreed to break into the building Sherra was confined in and get her out. Vincent and Jessie, their mass-destruction specialists, had been chosen to draw attention away from the other two groups by causing as much chaos as they could. All three teams were to gather at the Highwind in half an hour in order to escape. As the ones chosen to make a distraction, Jessie and Vincent headed out first, followed by the others five minutes later.

"What's the plan?" Jessie whispered as the two of them pressed their backs against a large concrete building near the center of the base.

"That depends." Vincent said quietly as he leaned slightly, turning his face to carefully glance through a window on the building. "Are you prepared to take undefended lives?"

"I have no qualms about killing Imperial soldiers." Jessie said, her lips tightening. "What do you want me to do?"

"We must reduce the amount of soldiers who can target us once we make our presence known. Destroying this building will do that."

"Right." Jessie said as she unclipped an explosive pack from her belt and activated it. "What's inside?"

"Sleeping soldiers." Vincent said as he ducked below the window and ran towards the next building.

"Right." Jessie said again, taking a determined breath before hurling the pack through the window of what she now knew was a barracks and ran after the crimson mantled man. Behind her, she could hear confusion erupt as the crash of woke the soldiers, then their voices turned into shouts of panic just before the explosive detonated. Jessie could feel the wave of heat behind her as the bomb leveled the building, sending chips of stone and steel flying.

Taking a running leap, Vincent landed on top of a pile of crates, and then bounded off of them and onto a low rooftop. Jessie scrambled up after him, not nearly as agile as her companion. The two of them ducked low, watching as lights all over the base came on and soldiers began rushing out of various buildings, some of them only half dressed.

"What now?" Jessie whispered, trying not to let the fear she was feeling come out in her voice. There were at least thirty soldiers running towards the burning barracks now, and she was unconvinced about their chances against all of them.

"Wait." Vincent said as he watched more and more of them gather around the fires, shielding their eyes from the bright flames as they tried to see inside, probably looking for survivors.

"Wait for what?" Jessie asked as she became increasingly nervous, they were no more than forty feet away from the soldiers now, and she didn't like the odds they were facing.

"Now." Vincent said, as a few more soldiers gathered, making the number satisfactory for him. "Another explosive."

"Okay." Jessie reached for a grenade. Vincent watched quietly as she pulled the pin from its handle and brought her arm back to throw it.

"Up there!" Shouted a voice from the ground as one of the soldiers spotted them, but it was too late. Jessie's grenade flew through the air and landed right in the middle of six soldiers. With a boom that shattered the windows of the building they were on top of, the grenade exploded, killing the six soldiers instantly and tossing at least ten more as if they were rag dolls.

"Let's move." Vincent said, his voice unnervingly calm as the two of them took running leaps off of the rooftop and headed south, away from the dazed and confused soldiers.

* * *

In the solitude of a plush little office in the command structure of the Rocket base, a heavyset man relaxed in a thick leather chair, his black loafers kicked off onto the floor. The man, wearing Imperial dress blues studded with medals and pins, stroked his thick black beard as he breathed in the atmosphere. Opera music flowed through the air, emanating from an antique record player in the corner of the room. With a sigh that sounded more like a grunt, his aging and rather unflattering face seemed to loosen up. Perhaps this base was a backwater little station, at least in size, but here in his office, he was still at peace. 

Heidegger Allgemein had served in the Holy Shinra Imperial Army for over two decades now. Using tactical brilliance that surely made that accursed subordinate Zahn envious, he had slowly risen through the ranks, always aiming for the top. For the longest time, only one thing had stood in his way; Sephiroth. That accursed General Kagemusha had not worked for his title, had not slaved for the Empire to earn his position. Sephiroth had merely been created, designed from the beginning to lead Rufus' armies. Heidegger had hated him. The command of the HSIA should have been his and his alone, but as a loyal soldier, he had refrained from speaking out against his commanding officer. All of that had changed five years ago when the glorified Kagemusha lost his mind and became the Butcher of Nibelheim. Since shortly after that beautiful day, Heidegger had held the title he had so long desired; he was now in command.

Without even a knock, the door to his office swung open, and before he could scold the intruder, a young blond woman in a revealing red dress stepped inside. Heidegger refrained from rolling his eyes at her, though he found it ridiculous that a woman of her title found it necessary to dress in such a manner. Scarlet had arrived not three days prior to check on the progress of one of the two military projects being constructed here. Though, he supposed he couldn't blame her for that; if he had designed that impressive weapon, he would want to see it during its final production stages as well.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Miss Grant?" Heidegger asked, his voice gruff and accented.

"Don't act sophisticated with me, Heidegger." Scarlet snapped, apparently agitated by something. "Did you authorize the weapons systems to be constructed for the MT-1?"

"The weapons systems?" Heidegger repeated as he brushed his beard in thought. "Ah! Why yes, I believe I did."

"You had no right to make decisions for my project!" Scarlet shouted as she walked to his desk and slammed her fist down on the mahogany surface.

"Why are you so angry?" Heidegger let out a hearty laugh, an odd sound that could just as well have been him coughing up phlegm. "The sooner they are finished, the sooner we can test out their destructive power."

"You chubby fool." Scarlet looked as though she was about to slap him. "If the main body isn't finished, the weapons systems will be useless!"

"Bah!" Heidegger waved her off. "You worry far too much. The armor is already mobile, so what if a few of the secondary systems are unfinished? It can move, and soon it will be able to destroy. This is all that matters."

"You idiot, if my MagiT-" Scarlet's words were cut off as the entire room rumbled, causing a light rain of dust from the ceiling. From somewhere outside, they could hear an explosion, muffled by the thick walls of the office. Both she and Heidegger looked around in confusion, but it was she who actually asked the question. "What the hell was that?"

Swinging his chair away from the desk, Heidegger stood and lumbered to the wide window behind him, pushing aside the blinds as he looked out across the base. From here, he could see flames licking against the night sky, rising up from the rubble of what was once one of the troop's barracks.

"What's going on?" Scarlet asked as she ran up alongside of him and viewed the destruction. "Are we under attack?"

As if to answer their question, a dull shout could be heard from the soldiers gathered around the fire. They could see some of them start to point up towards another building, following their line of sight, Heidegger briefly saw two figures crouching atop one of the supply sheds before another explosion erupted in the midst of the soldiers.

"So it would seem." He grumbled, turning away from the windows and sliding his shoes back onto his feet.

"What are you going to do?" Scarlet asked him, knowing that Heidegger wasn't the kind who got involved in the action. The man was a decent strategist, but he couldn't hold his own against a dying dog in a fight.

"I told you that your precious project was mobile." Heidegger flashed a toothy grin. "I believe a field test is in order."

"No!" Scarlet hissed, chasing after him as he walked to the door. "The MagiTek isn't ready for combat yet!"

"It is armored, and it can move." Heidegger laughed. "I need nothing more than that to squash a couple of annoying insects."

* * *

The building that Sherra was apparently kept in was quite similar to where they'd found Cid, the only main difference being that it was much closer to the main area's of the base, making it a far more difficult target. Cloud, Tifa, and Tseng found themselves crouching behind a few boxes near the perimeter wall, watching the tiny house and hoping that Jessie and Vincent could manage a fitting distraction while keeping themselves alive. Just like Cid's 'home', there were four guards posted here; not at all too much for them to handle, but it was unlikely that they could take them out fast enough to avoid alerting others. 

"You think Jessie and Vincent ran into troub-" Tifa's words were cut off as a loud boom resounded through the night sky, followed quickly by a burst of fire and smoke from elsewhere inside the base.

The three of them went silent again, watching as the guards around Sherra's 'house' looked at each other in shock, quickly discussing the situation with one another before they apparently decided that it would be safe for two of them to leave and see what was going on.

"That's our cue." Cloud whispered, and the other two nodded. "You guys take care of the guards, and I'll get the door."

Without a sound the three of them moved out from behind their hiding spot, each taking a different approach as they ducked low and ran fast in the darkness. Tifa was the first to reach the guards, coming up from behind and taking one down swiftly with a solid roundhouse kick to his temple. A split second later, there was a dull snap as the second guard fell to the ground in front of Tseng, his neck twisted far beyond its limits. Not wanting to be seen, Cloud opted not to approach the door at the front, but rather he decided to make a new one using the same method he had earlier. With a few quick scrapes of the bio materia, he once again limited the spells effect, this time into a four by four foot square, and activated it. Within seconds a small doorway had been eaten away by the stones acidic magic, and he motioned for Tifa to duck inside as they had agreed that it would be better for her to go in after the woman.

Darting into the hole, Tifa found herself in a small living room much like the one Cloud had been in earlier in the night. It was dark, but she could see light emerging from beneath a door connected to the room. Jogging to it, Tifa knocked against it with the steel knuckles of her fighting gloves.

"Sherra?" She said just loud enough for her voice to carry through the door.

With a sudden creak that startled her into taking a step back, the door was swung inward, and a woman stepped into the doorway. Clothed in simple gray and white, she appeared younger than Cid was by at least five years. Though she wasn't nearly as stunning a beauty as Tifa was, she could probably hold her own against most women. The way her light brown hair was tied up into a bun in the back, and the thin, black, plastic eye glasses she wore made her appear to be an educated woman. In that split second, Tifa found herself wondering if perhaps she had helped her husband design his airship.

"Are you with the people Cid told me about?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly; it was unlikely she was used to rescue attempts.

"Yes." Tifa nodded, giving her a warm smile to try and comfort her nerves. "We need to get going, there's not a lot of time to waste."

"Okay," Sherra said, though instead of coming out, she walked back into her room.

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked, following her inside in time to see her kneel down next to an oversized toy that looked something like a moogle on steroids.

"This is what I use to talk to Cid with." She said as she did something to one of its feet. "Cid told me to destroy it before I left so the soldiers wouldn't figure out what it's for after we're gone."

"So that it can't be traced back to this Reeves guy?" Tifa asked the obvious.

"Yes." Sherra said as she stood up and moved back towards the door. "He's a good man. I don't want to see him caught."

"I can understand that." Tifa said, thinking of all the horrible things she'd heard the Empire had done. "Let's hurry though, my friends are waiting outside."

Sherra nodded, and together they hurried back to the living room. Tifa crawled out the hole in the wall to where Cloud and Tseng were standing, both watching out for soldiers and looking unnerved.

"What took you so long?" Tseng asked, as he looked around the corner of the house towards the center of the base, a materia gun in hand the entire time.

As he finished the question, there was a dull thump from inside the house, and thin tendrils of smoke began to rise from the window for the bedroom.

"And what was that?" The Turk asked, not seeming to enjoy the unexpected sound.

"Just cleaning up some evidence." Tifa said, not bothering to explain any further as she helped Sherra out of the hole and onto her feet.

"Doesn't matter." Cloud said as he began moving towards the perimeter wall again. "Come on, let's mosey."

"Mosey?" Tifa asked, nearly laughing out loud at the odd choice of words. "What are you supposed to be? A cowboy?"

"I don't know." Cloud grunted. "It just came out. Let's just go, we need to get to the hangar. They better have the Highwind ready to fly. Vincent and Jessie seem to be causing a big uproar over there."

* * *

Sephiroth didn't know what Vincent and Jessie were doing to cause a scene, but knowing the destructive tendencies of those two, he was positive that it would be more than satisfactory. Together with Cid, he darted across the base, taking cover and avoiding detection as they approached the massive hangar that hid the XGP, or according to Cid, the Highwind. They heard the explosion as they neared it, but didn't pause to see what had happened. Their role in this escape was crucial; if they didn't get the Highwind running quickly, the entire party would be captured, and likely killed. 

"There's a door on the east side." Cid grunted as they ran, nodding his head in that direction. "Easier to get inside there than the hangar doors. We can open them from inside once we get aboard."

Sephiroth nodded to show he understood, but said nothing as they ran to towards the door, ducking down at the corner of a building as they saw a half dozen soldiers run out of the hangar and towards the sound of the explosion.

"Let me go in first," Cid said as they reached the door. "They're used to me, I think I can throw 'em off guard."

Another nod, and Sephiroth pushed the door open as Cid stepped inside. The hangar bay was quite dark, but several overhead lights were shining down on a massive construct of steel and iron in the center. Sleek and curvaceous in its design, the silver tinged Highwind looked nothing like any of the wooden airships that were common throughout the world. The ship was composed of four primary sections, the smallest being the deck, living quarters, and control room which hung low and resembled a more traditional sea faring ship. Connected to the back of the deck was a massive turbine that extended the entire length of the enormous vessel. Above the deck, and nearly three times its size, was a long metal shaft that housed a large portion of the ships mechanisms. Connected to each side of this shaft were long rod-like chambers, the closest thing the flying ship had to wings, that extended straight back and ended in large fins and massive thrusters that would move the vessel forward. Near the beginning of each of these 'wings', and extending to the left and right of the ships body, were massive round chambers that were topped with the propellers that would lift the ship off the ground, each of them with a span of twenty feet easily.

"Impressive." Sephiroth muttered beneath his breath as he took in the gigantic machine.

Without saying a word, Cid ran towards a ramp that led up onto the ships deck. Sephiroth began following at a brisk pace as Cid made it to the top and opened the hatch to step inside, mentally preparing himself for what was about to happen.

"Cid!" Came the voice of a startled soldier who was standing inside of the ship. He appeared to be the only guard inside the hangar. The rest must have gone to help fend off the attack from Vincent and Jessie. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Bobby." Cid said, sounding casual as he placed a hand on a long metal tube set into the iron wall to his left. "I heard an explosion, so I wanted to come and make sure the ship was alright."

"Oh." The guard said, relaxing as that explanation seemed satisfactory. "Well, it didn't happen here. You better get back to your hou-"

The soldier never finished the sentence. With a twist of his hand, Cid pulled at the metal tube in the wall and a soft click could be heard. The tube fell down out of the wall, revealing itself to be some sort of spear, and with a single twirl, the engineer stabbed it hard into the man's gut. With a gurgling sound of pain, the man fell to the ground, dead before he had time to realize what had happened.

"You built a weapon into the wall?" Sephiroth asked, as he stepped inside and closed the hatch behind them.

"They're all over the ship." Cid snorted as he kicked the dead guard off the spear and dropped the weapon onto the ground. "I wasn't planning on waiting around to be rescued forever. These idiots don't know ---- about blue prints; they couldn't tell if I was installing a weapon or a conduit."

"Is the ship ready to fly?" Sephiroth asked, not bothering to continue the current conversation. They were on a tight schedule.

"A lot of the secondary systems aren't finished yet." Cid said as he began walking towards the control room, followed by the black clad warrior. "I was dicking around, making it take longer than it should to buy me and Sherra more time to escape. The primary systems are good, though. The ship can fly, but Shinra doesn't know that."

* * *

They were in danger. For a good twenty minutes, Jessie and Vincent had destroyed and avoided the awakened soldiers in the base. With the Shinra troops groggy, as many of them had been asleep, it hadn't been too difficult to rain doom down upon their heads while keeping themselves hidden and unattainable, but that had just come to a screeching halt. With less than five minutes to rendezvous at the airship hangar, they now found themselves trapped. The remaining soldiers had at last caught up to them, trapping the pair in a corner where they had no where to run.. 

Hurling one of the few grenades she had left into the midst of the soldiers, Jessie grimaced as the explosion only took down two men. Apparently, they had realized how dangerous she was, and were staying clear of her bombs. With only three explosives left, she was beginning to realize that they would not survive.

To her left, a single soldier wearing no shirt rushed at her, his sword raised up over his head to strike her down, there was no way she could dodge in time. Then, with a flash of red and gold, Vincent intercepted the man, literally ripping the poor fool's arm off with a single ferocious pull of his gauntleted hand. Screaming as his blade fell to the ground and blood gushed from the wound, the soldier stumbled backwards and took off on a staggering run past his comrades who cleared a path for him. Nothing happened after that. The rest of the soldiers seemed to be rethinking their plan at taking them by force now. Jessie had to rethink something as well; maybe she wouldn't survive, but there was a good chance that Vincent would.

"Don't start doubting now." Vincent whispered as he tossed the disembodied arm towards the soldiers, causing them to back away a few steps. "You've handled yourself well. I would hate to see you die now because you lost your nerve."

"Right." Jessie said, a word that seemed to come out often when the scary man spoke to her. "We're not beaten yet."

"Indeed." Vincent said as he stepped next to her, carefully slipping his hand into one of her pockets and withdrawing a grenade in a way that none of the soldiers could see.

"Pull the pin and throw." Jessie muttered, realizing what Vincent was up to. The soldiers were expecting the bomb from her, not her companion.

"So I've seen." Vincent whispered as he popped the pin out with his fingertips before suddenly reeling his arm back. Then, instead of simply tossing the grenade into a group, he took aim at a specific soldier and used his ridiculous strength to throw the metal ball so fast and so hard, that it actually buried itself in the man's chest. Gurgling something as blood spilled down his shattered flesh, the man stumbled a few feet back, falling against two of his fellow soldiers before the grenade in his sternum erupted, killing several of the nearby Shinra troops as well as blowing his torso into pieces.

"Damn." Jessie said, her eyes wide with the same shock that was plastered on the soldiers faces. "That's one way to do it."

"I thought it effective." Vincent concurred, and then went quiet as the ground shook beneath his feet. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah." Jessie said, frowning as she watched the soldiers begin to back away, not out of fear this time, but as if they were in on some strange joke. "Almost like, I don't know, a really big foot step or something."

"That would be correct." Vincent said as he straightened his body and looked past the soldiers.

Jessie's breath caught in her throat as she followed Vincent's gaze and saw what he was looking at. She felt her legs wanting to move, to run away, as the thing came out from behind one of the taller buildings in the base, but she couldn't seem to move. If nothing else, it was a marvel of modern machinery. Standing at nearly two stories in height, the tan and green contraption seemed almost humanoid. It moved towards them, walking steadily on two thick mechanized legs that bent at the knee and ankle joints much like a bird, giving it the impression of a predator as it stalked forward. Its torso was a good fifteen feet in circumference, and was fitted with several short tubes that looked far too much like cannons to be a coincidence. Near the center of the torso was a glass window reinforced with steel bars set into a compartment that bulged out slightly, most likely the cockpit. Just under the cockpit was a rounded recession set with a large semi-transparent red orb that looked almost like materia, but was far too large to be such. The finishing touches on the contraption were two long arms that came down, moving at the elbows where, as she watched, two large bolts locked into place, causing two enormous claws to emerge from the things 'hands' on each arm.

"Now can I start doubting?" Jessie said, not even realizing that her voice was shaking. She'd never seen such a machine before, and it was clear from the military markings painted all over its body, that this humanoid device was made for war.

"No." Vincent said, his expression remaining unchanged as he sized up this new opponent. "Just fight harder."

The soldiers that had been around them were now far back, clearing a sizeable path for the mechanized horror as it suddenly sprinted at them with speed that nothing of that size should have. Jessie yelped in surprise as Vincent grabbed her arm and jerked her out of the way just in time to save her from getting gutted by the things razor sharp claws.

"Get yourself together!" The red mantled man hissed as he let go of her and leapt towards the machines leg's, raking his claw across the heavy armor that coated its body to no avail. Turning swiftly, the machine swung one of its massive arms backwards and smacked Vincent aside as if he was an annoying fly.

"Vincent!" Jessie screamed, worried for his life as she tried to imagine how much that must have hurt. Any normal person may have been dead, right then and there, but she had a feeling it wouldn't stop Valentine for long.

Grinding her teeth together in anger, she ripped one of her last two grenades from her belt and ran diagonally past the machine. It was a gamble, but she was fairly certain that the machines size alone would mean that it wasn't very maneuverable at close range. Trying to calculate it all in her head, Jessie ducked low just in time to avoid a swing of its arm and then rolled away and onto her feet. As the oversized and very dangerous toy began to readjust and locate her again, she hurled the grenade right at its left elbow, just as she'd planned. While the short blast didn't destroy the arm, it did break one of the two bolts holding its claws in place, causing them to short circuit and retract. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

The machine didn't seem to mind the explosion or the damage it had taken all that much, though. With Jessie now in its line of sight again, it came running at her full speed. Once again, she barely managed to jump out of the way just in time for its other arm to swing hard and completely destroy a section of the thick perimeter wall.

Inwardly cursing, Jessie got to her feet quickly and took off on a mad sprint, looking for Vincent as she went. The rendezvous time would have passed by now, and if they didn't get to the hangar quickly, they could be left here. Behind her, she heard the heavy scraping and grinding of the machine's gears as it began to turn towards her again, but she didn't look back. She just continued to pump her arms and legs for speed, nearly startled into tripping when Vincent suddenly came up along side her, keeping right up with her though he didn't seem to be trying very hard. They had covered quite a bit of distance already at their frantic pace, but a rumble in the ground and a slam of steel told them that the armored machine was about to start running for them again.

As the heavy sounds of its footsteps began reverberating through the base, Jessie couldn't help but think that this was the end. She would die here beneath the feet of a damn machine, and her parents would never be avenged. The sound behind them grew closer, and she could hear the gears of the thing moving as it lifted its arm to swing, to strike them down. There was no point in trying to dodge again, they had taken a gamble by running, and it had failed. Jessie inwardly prepared herself for death, hoping that it didn't hurt too much.

A sudden wave of heat washed over them and a sound like thunder boomed behind them. With a mechanical screech that sounded almost like a living roar of pain, the giant behind them toppled to the ground as an impossible loud thumping and rumbling sound erupted in the sky above them. Coming to a sudden halt, both Jessie and Vincent looked above them as a bright light flashed on and centered over them. Above them they could not see the sky, only an enormous silver _thing_. For a moment, neither of them really knew what was going on, it was surreal. Then that thunderous sound came again and they could once more feel intense heat as magic-powered blasts rained down from the silver giant above, pinning the humanoid machine to the ground and keeping the Shinra soldiers from coming near them.

It wasn't until a rope ladder was tossed down, unfurling and snapping to a halt just next to them that they realized what they were seeing. Overhead, they briefly spotted Tseng, Cloud, and Sephiroth manning what were apparently materia powered cannons on the deck of the airship, Highwind, firing down at the base to cover them. They heard a shout, Tifa calling for them to hurry, and without another thought they both latched onto the rope ladder and began climbing up. Before they were halfway up the airship lurched and began moving away, prompting them to hold on tightly as they continued up. Though she knew it was crazy to do so, Jessie couldn't help but look down at the base as they flew away and watched as the soldiers ran to the Shinra war machine as it began to stand back up. Suddenly overwhelmed with a grand sense of accomplishment, Jessie flashed Vincent a huge smile and let out a scream of triumph that echoed through the night.

* * *

Scarlet watched from a relatively safe distance in absolute horror as the XGP lifted out of its hangar and flew overhead, attacking her precious MagiTek armor and rescuing the intruders before soaring off into the sky. It was absolutely unbelievable, and yet it had happened. What she had thought was a simple attack on the base had actually been a cover up for a theft of the highest caliber. 

Realizing that it didn't matter now, the ship was gone and probably Cid with it, she took off in a run towards the fallen suit of MagiTek, arriving at its feet just as it began to stand back up, only to fall over again with a heavy metal thud. Scarlet winced at the sound, sympathetic for her poor baby, then turned furious as she looked over its body. The armor was scorched black from the magic blasts fired from the XGP, and one of its arms had been damaged. While none of it was extensive, it would take weeks to fully repair it, in addition to the time it would take to actually _finish_ the radar and weapons systems that would have normally made the MagiTek armor more than capable of destroying even the mighty XGP.

With a loud creak, the hatch on the back of the armor popped open and Heidegger practically fell out, his tubby form rolling down the cold armor and smacking onto the ground where he lay motionless for a good minute. When at last he did begin to move, groaning in pain as he slowly pushed himself up and began dusting off his ruined uniform, Scarlet walked up to him and gave him a good, hard, backhanded slap across his face.

"You moron!" She screamed in fury at the stupid man. "Look what you've done to my MT-1!"

Suddenly able to move just fine after that smack, Heidegger quickly lumbered up and took a swing at the girl, who easily side stepped the attack, making him all the more angry.

"If your worthless armor had been operational, this wouldn't have happened!" He bellowed. "Now the XGP has been stolen!"

"Only because of you and your incompetent men!" Scarlet hissed. "Not my prototype!"

Going quiet, as if he suddenly realized the severity of the situation, Heidegger's anger settled and he looked to Scarlet with worried eyes. Understanding and agreeing with his unspoken sentiments, she too dropped her anger and let out a trembling sigh as she turned and walked back towards the command building.

Rufus was going to kill them.


	6. Chapter VI Last Beautiful Girl

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

My homepage has been updated with the thirdpiece of AR artwork, be sure to check it out if you enjoy the story!

Check back next weekend for chapter VII.

The designation "XGP" for the Highwind in Chapter V is homage to Outlaw Star, a fantastic anime that everyone should check out. Thanks to Regina Raptorum for noticing the reference!

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or send them directly to me. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter VI

Last Beautiful Girl

Long ago, barbaric tribes were scattered across the land now called the Frozen North. They warred with one another, destroying and conquering until one reigned supreme; the Warriors of Bone, named for the fossilized remains of ancient creatures that they wore as armor and used to make buildings. Along the southern coast of the continent this tribe had made its home, built and maintained by thousands of slaves. There it stood until the days of war ended with the birth of the Holy Shinra Empire. Hearing of the power of Rufus and the hope his ideas represented, the slaves rebelled and overthrew the tribe. Now, many decades later, stands the city of Roram, an ancient word that translates into modern tongue as "bone". Rebuilt with a new vision of peace and prosperity by the slaves of that time, Roram remains the only major city in the Frozen North. The many small villages and towns throughout the continent have come to rely on Roram for protection against the elements and native creatures, and in turn, Roram relies on the teachings of Rufus and the Holy Shinra Empire for guidance.

Given the history of this city, it seemed very fitting that this was to be where the HSIN Gloriosa docked for the final leg of Rufus' journey across his Empire. It was mid afternoon when they arrived at the port, and Rufus took comfort in knowing that the next time he boarded his grand ship, he would do so with his prize. Leaving his pet, Kuro, behind for the final stops, Rufus stepped off of the ship alongside of Rude to a roaring crowd of adoring subjects, all eager to get but a glimpse of the Divine Emperor. Despite the recent troubles that had reared up, he felt at peace as he began walking down the red carpeting laid out for him, guarded on both sides by rows of Shinra soldiers to keep the people from rushing in.

"Sir!" Came a voice from behind him, and Rufus turned, frowning as he watched a sailor running down the boarding ramp from his ship.

"Yes?" Rufus asked as the man came to a halt and snapped to attention before him. "What is it?"

"Priority message addressed to you, sir." The sailor explained.

"From who?" Rufus' frown increased.

"It's coming from General Heidegger, sir." The sailor said. "From the Rocket Base. The message is waiting for you in your quarters."

"That's unusual." Rufus mumbled, looking to Rude who remained expressionless. "I'll read it when I return; it will only be a few days."

"Aye-aye, sir." The sailor saluted, turned on his heels, and headed back to the ship.

"Any idea what that was about?" Rude asked loudly enough to be heard above the crowd as they began walking again.

"No." Rufus said, a bit taken back by his own ignorance of what the message may state. "Maybe one of the projects there has been completed."

"That's a good possibility." Rude agreed.

"Yes." Rufus chuckled, looking smug. "Gya-ha-ha, and Nyeh-heh-heh love to brag."

"That is true." Rude acknowledged, seemingly unaffected by Rufus' cheap stab at the way Heidegger and Scarlet laughed.

"In any case, what we are about to accomplish is far more important, and I will not be delayed any longer. Their message can wait."

Directly ahead of them was Roram's branch of the Church of the Divine Emperor, a towering cathedral that had been built at the edge of the city, facing the docks so that it would be the first thing that visitors saw here. Many stone steps led up to a grand garden of cold weather plants laid out before the cathedral's doors. Just at the top of these steps was a stone pulpit that had been placed there for when Roram's bishop wished to address the people outside during one of the more pleasant days. Standing there now, however, were two other strangers to this city.

Reno had arrived here only a few hours prior to the HSIN Gloriosa, glad to be reunited with his long time companions after his side trip back to Midgar. As Rufus and Rude stepped up to them, he nodded his head at the pair, not bothering to discuss his little "chat" with Hojo. The smug expression on his face told the Emperor that the business was done.

Standing next to Reno, and looking much more impressive in her light blue robes, was the High Priestess of the Church of the Divine Emperor.

"Emperor," Elena said as she bowed her head before him. "Welcome to the city of Roram."

Elena's presence was something of a ceremony. Today marked a special occasion; this was the first time in all the years of the Empire that Rufus had personally visited the Frozen North. At request of Roram's bishop, Elena had made the trip here as well to help welcome the Emperor.

"Thank you Elena." Rufus smiled. "It's good to see a familiar face after all this time."

"Shall we begin, Emperor?" Elena asked as she motioned towards the pulpit. "We have much on the agenda for today."

"Yes, I'm sure we do." Rufus said as he stepped up to the stone podium and placed his hands on the edges causing another roar from the crowd. "And I am most anxious to get them done so I can visit the smaller villages here."

* * *

With unreal speed and power of the Highwind, the distance between Rocket and the tiny village of Icicle in the Frozen North had passed in only three days, less than half of what any other airship would have been capable of. After the time it had taken to journey to Rocket, liberate the Highwind, and fly to their destination, they would be ahead of Rufus by almost two full days if Jeran's estimate was correct. Worried that a large group would draw too much attention to them in a village that was barely two hundred people large, the party had decided to separate.

Cloud, Vincent, and Sephiroth had opted to venture to the village; they had quite a hike ahead of them as the Highwind had landed several miles away to avoid being easily spotted. The others would wait for them aboard the airship, and for the most part they had been happy to do so. Jessie was anxious to stick around as she was very interested in inspecting the Highwind. Despite its remote location and small size, Tseng decided to sit the trip out for fear that the villagers may recognize him from his work in the Empire. Cid and Sherra had been happy to avoid any further action so that they could spend time with one another and work on completing the Highwind's remaining systems. In fact, the only person who hadn't been happy about being left behind was Tifa; she didn't want Cloud going anywhere without her. Unfortunately for her, her talents were for fighting, not for locating the power that Rufus was searching for, and they had all agreed that only those who were best suited to find this thing quickly should go.

The three men were now dressed in thick black overcoats, heavy pants, and gray scarves that covered the lower half of their faces and helped ease the sub-fifty degree temperature. The cold weather clothing did make them look odd, though; if it weren't for their hair and heights, they would basically look identical. After nearly an hour of trudging through a thin layer of snow they had come to a hill that overlooked a forest; the same snow-coated forest that both Cloud and Sephiroth had seen in their visions. Near the center of the forest they could see a large clearing where the tops of buildings marked the tiny village of Icicle.

Without a word, the trio started down the hillside, their breath forming tendrils of steam about their heads. Beneath their feet, the snow compacted down with an audible crunch. Then, as Cloud was busy staring at the back of Sephiroth's head as if he could melt the man's brain with his thoughts, the brave and strong soldier slipped when his boots touched a spot of ice that he hadn't noticed. As his feet flew out from under him, throwing him off balance and sending his rear end to the ground, a single word flew from his lips. "----!" And then he was rolling down the hillside.

Sephiroth and Vincent both tried to grab the seemingly cursed young man, but missed as his tumble gained speed and sent him flying down into the forest. The world rushed by in cycles of white snow, brown trees, and blue sky until his little trip came to an unceremonious conclusion at the base of a large trunk. With a heavy thud, the back of Cloud's skull smacked into the thick bark, sending a light dust of snow falling from the limbs and over him as he sprawled out. As he stared up into the canopy of frosted limbs above him, he had a vague feeling of pain, but that was vastly overwhelmed by the dizziness. Oddly enough, as the light of the sun filtered down a silhouette appeared above him. Though his vision was blurry, he could tell that it was a feminine figure, and the way the light bathed her shadowed, brunette hair made her seem almost heavenly. Perhaps it was just the hit to the head, but he felt as though this woman's mere presence was making him feel at ease, as if all his troubles were melting away.

"What are you?" Cloud mumbled, squinting his eyes as he blinked away the blurriness to behold a vision of absolute beauty. A young girl clothed in a thick, but form hugging violet coat lined with fluffy white fur that accentuated a petite body and modest curves. The most striking, though, was her face; the soft curves of her cheeks, gently angled chin, small rounded nose, and gorgeous green eyes, framed beautifully by curly brown bangs in the front, and a long braid in the back tied with a violet bow. "Are you an angel?"

A flush of red crossed the girl's cheeks as her pink lips spread into an adorable smile, and she knelt down next to him and placed a hand to the back of his head. With a whisper of words, a healing spell grew from her mittens and soothed the pain that the tree had caused.

"No sir," the beautiful girl said, her voice melodic and filled with an innocent kindness. "But I'll help you just the same."

* * *

Just as she always was, Aerith Gainsborough had been gathering the beautiful Icicle Petals on this fine morning. Even after her near death encounter with the creature in the forest several weeks prior, she hadn't let up in her routine. To surrender to fear and abandon the natural beauty of the world as a result was a horrible way to live, and she wasn't about to head down such a colorless and dreadful path. Strangely enough, her activities were about to be interrupted once more. She heard the sound before she actually saw what was happening, an odd thumping noise that was repeating in rapid succession. Though she couldn't place the sound, she knew it wasn't normal, and so she'd began looking around, but nothing could have prepared her for seeing a black clad man come crashing into a tree not more than ten feet away from her.

Instantly worried for his health, and paying no mind to the fact that she'd never seen him before, she ran to his side, placing her basket of flowers down as she knelt next to him. His words made her blush, but from the dreamlike state of his voice she was fairly positive that he had merely hit his head a bit too hard. Casting a light healing spell and a few kind words seemed to work wonders, because his bright blue eyes came to focus quickly, and his attention centered completely on her as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Thank you." Cloud said, his voice slightly off as he stared at the beautiful girl with mixed emotions. It was her, he was absolutely sure of it. The sensation he had felt when he'd had his vision of this snowy place had returned the moment her healing spell had cleared his mind. The power that he felt this time wasn't as strong, perhaps it wasn't being used, but just being in her presence seemed enough to trigger the tracking abilities that Hojo had implanted into him.

"You're welcome, sir." Aerith said, offering her hands to him and helping him stand. "That looked like a nasty fall."

"Yeah." Cloud said, though he wasn't fully paying attention to her words. "Slipped on the hill."

"You came from there?" Aerith asked, looking in the direction of the hill and seeing the trail in the snow that signaled where he'd fallen. That direction was facing south, away from the village, and as she watched two other men wearing the same clothing came into view, though they didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to check on their friend. "Are you travelers? I haven't seen your faces before."

"Uh, yeah." Cloud said, shaking his head a little to try and clear the sensation and concentrate on talking to her just as Vincent and Sephiroth arrived. "My name is Cloud. This is Vincent."

"I am Seth." Sephiroth said, realizing that Cloud had no interest in introducing him. He decided to go with a false name; General Sephiroth Kagemusha, the Butcher of Nibelheim, was widely known, perhaps even here in this village. He looked to Cloud and nodded lightly, letting the other know that he felt it too, but the blond didn't seem to care what he thought. This girl either was, or owned what they were here for.

"Greetings to you all." Aerith smiled, her angelic features lighting up. "And welcome to the village of Icicle. My name is Aerith Gainsborough."

"That is an interesting jewel you have in your hair." Vincent said from behind her, prompting her to turn enough for Sephiroth and Cloud to spot it as well; a semi-transparent white orb that very much resembled materia was tied into the ribbon in her braid. Apparently Vincent had recognized the way the other two were acting and had pieced it together. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be trying all that hard to remain inconspicuous.

"Oh, this?" Aerith said, touching the orb at the back of her head when she realized what he was referring to. Despite his forwardness, the girl didn't seem to be concerned with his interest in her 'jewel', perhaps life in such a small village brought with it a sense of trust and honesty that the rest of the world no longer could afford to have. "My mother gave it to me when I was very young."

"It's quite lovely." Vincent continued, not seeming to care if he came off as strange to her. "What is it for?"

"My mother told me that it was a holy relic that would protect me." Aerith said, then gave a quiet laugh. "I suppose it has done that much."

"Holy, you say?" Sephiroth asked, the tone in his voice making Cloud and Vincent look to him immediately. The way he asked the question indicated that the word had meant something to him, but he hadn't mentioned anything of the sort to them. Could he know more than he was letting on?

"Mhmm." Aerith nodded, her smile never fading. As she looked around at the three of them, she suddenly clapped her hands together, the mittens she wore allowing for only a dull sound. "Oh, you must be tired if you've journeyed through the plains of snow. Would you like to rest? I own a small inn at the village for travelers, I'd be happy to let you stay there if you'd like."

"That sounds great." Cloud said, giving the girl a friendly smile before Sephiroth or Vincent could argue the point. Sephiroth probably wanted to just kill her and take it because he was a bastard like that. There was something about the girl, though, that made Cloud want to protect her. There was an innocence and kindness about her that he had never experienced before. Perhaps if they went to her village he could talk to her and convince her to come with them instead. Besides that, she didn't even seem to understand that she was holding some great power, and he'd like to try and understand more about it before just running away with it.

"Wonderful!" She said, a giddy sound. Bending her knees, she picked up her flower basket from the ground and stepped past them, smiling at Cloud as she did so. "Please follow me, it's not that far. I'll fix you a warm meal when we arrive. I'm sure you're all very cold."

* * *

Fulfilling her promise, Aerith had served them each a delicious bowl of some sort of stew when they arrived at her "inn". The building was actually one of the larger ones in the tiny village, which was rather sad. It was made in a sort of odd, dome shape, but most of the structure was actually underground. A fairly genius idea, it seemed, as its subterranean layout helped keep it warmer than the outdoors. There were two levels in the small building, the one closest to the surface containing a small kitchen and living area, while the lower had four small rooms with one bed each. Though none of them had asked, it was fairly obvious that this 'inn' was also her home, meaning that one of those little bed rooms was where she slept.

As night neared, and Aerith left them alone for a moment to do some chores, Cloud had convinced Vincent to let him talk to her alone for a while to see if he could coax some information out of her. Though Sephiroth hadn't been thrilled about the idea, Vincent agreed that the girl had done nothing to warrant an outright kidnapping and so Sephiroth went along with it. With the head start they had on Rufus, they could afford to try and convince her to join them of her own accord before resorting to such barbaric measures. The two of them had just retired to their respective bed rooms for some rest when the girl returned from her chores.

"Oh," She said, noticing that Cloud was now the only one here. "Did your friends go to bed early?"

"Yeah." Cloud nodded from his seat at small table they had eaten at that had a chair at each of its four sides. "I hope you don't mind if I stay up here for a while, I'm not really tired yet."

"Of course not." She said with a smile. Walking to the table, she sat down in the chair to his left.

"So," Cloud said, trying to find a way to get a useful conversation started. At least he was more comfortable talking now that Sephiroth wasn't near him. "Have you lived here your whole life?"

"Yes. This is where I was born."

"You've never thought of moving?"

"No," Aerith said, sounding a little surprised that he even mentioned such a thing. "I've never really considered it."

"Really?" Cloud asked with genuine interest. "I left my hometown when I was sixteen. I wanted to get out and experience the world, you know?"

"No, I don't know. I'm sorry." Aerith said, her voice apologetic. "I've never been very curious about the outside world. Besides, the people of this village depend on me, I could never leave them."

"Why's that?"

"I am able to use magic." She explained. "I'm not very good at it, but no one else here can. I believe I was blessed with this gift so that I could help the people here."

"Really? What kind of magic can you use?"

"Well, all kinds." Aerith said with confusion in her voice. "Why do you ask?"

"All kinds?" Cloud repeated, becoming more intrigued. "Most mages specialize in one form of magic, and use little outside of that field. To be able to use all magic is a rare gift. You should really consider going to a larger city to develop your talent."

"Oh." Aerith said, clearly surprised. Knowledge of such things was probably limited in this region. Then, with a brighter tone she added. "But I'm happy here. I can help my neighbors, and that's all that really matters to me."

"That's a noble thing to say." Cloud noted with respect for the girl's words. "There aren't many people in the world who are that selfless."

"My life is meaningless if I can't bring happiness to others." She said, a smile coming to her lips. "I want to be able to help make the world a better place in my own small way."

"Well, I certainly hope you succeed."

"I do every time I can mend a wound for one of the village children, or start a fire to help keep the elderly here warm at night. I may only be one person, but I believe my actions can make a difference here." Aerith paused, smiling brighter before she continued. "Just look at the difference Rufus Shinra has made. He was just one man, but he has made the world a safer and more peaceful place for everyone."

"Yeah." Cloud grimaced, trying not to let his new found hatred for Rufus show on his face as her words brought him back to the matter at hand. Looking around for a way to continue the conversation, he spotted a photograph hanging on the wall of an older woman who resembled Aerith, and a man with graying hair standing next to her. "Are those your parents?"

Aerith turned, her green eyes searching the room until they landed on the picture he was looking at. "Yes, they are."

"Do they still live here?" He asked, realizing that she hadn't mentioned them being around.

"Oh, no." Aerith said, her voice dropping slightly. "They left the village when I was very young. I have not seen them since then."

"Why?" Cloud asked, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. It wasn't often that parents just left their children like that.

"I don't really know." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "My mother told me that they had to leave so that I would be safe."

"Is that when she gave you that holy thing?" Cloud asked.

"Yes," Aerith said, reaching up into her hair and untying the bow so that the white orb would drop into her hands. Bringing it in front of her, she turned it over in her palms as she spoke. "It is the only keepsake I really have of her."

"Does it do anything?" He asked, finally getting around to the questions he had wanted to ask from the beginning. "Out in the forest you said it was for protection."

"That's right." She said as she stared into its glassy surface. "Until recently I thought it was just a good luck charm."

"You don't anymore?"

"No." Aerith shook her head, her voice remaining quiet as she spoke. "Several weeks ago I was picking flowers in the forest, just like I was today when I met you. I saw a creature there, it probably wandered down from the mountains. It attacked me. I thought I was going to die."

"What happened?" Cloud asked in an equally quiet voice, very interested to hear the conclusion, especially since it was several weeks ago that he'd had that brief vision of this very forest.

"Well," Aerith said, remembering the event. "I fell down, and just as the creature was about to strike me, I closed my eyes and said a prayer my mother taught me. Then I heard this strange noise, and a bright light. I opened my eyes to see what was happening, and there were strange tendrils of green light moving through the air all around me. They surrounded the creature, and…"

"And the monster died?" Cloud asked, filling in the obvious ending to the story.

"Yes." Aerith nodded. Her face, reflected in the holy orb within her hands, seemed oddly sad, as if she felt sorry for the creature's death. "After it was over, I realized that this had been glowing faintly the entire time. When it stopped, the green lights died away."

"So it really did protect you." Cloud said, studying the orb in her hand with great interest now. Sephiroth had said that he and Cloud were designed to home in on the power Rufus was searching for. Could this orb be that power? "Just like your mother said it would."

"Yes." She nodded as she lifted it back behind her head, tying it into the ribbon once more. "I just wish I understood what it was."

Cloud took a deep breath, preparing him self as he readied to try to explain things to her. Aerith seemed to have a great deal of respect for Rufus and his philosophies. If he could tell her the things he had seen, and about the experiments done to him to allow him to find this holy orb of hers, maybe he could begin to make her understand the truth about the Emperor, and from there, convince her to join them in their fight against him. Then, as he opened his mouth to begin, a heavy banging came from the door and a voice from outside made his blood go cold.

"In the name of the Divine Emperor, open this door!"

* * *

"Goodness!" Aerith jumped at the sudden noise and the commanding shout from outside. It took her a moment to gather herself up from the shock, and then she stood up to answer the door. Before she could take a single step she felt something tighten around her wrist and turned to see Cloud standing from his seat, his strong hand holding her. She began to ask what he was doing, but his kind expression had faded to darkness, causing the words to catch in her throat.

The pounding on the door continued.

"Don't." Cloud said with sorrow in his voice. "I'm really sorry Aerith, but I don't have time to be casual anymore."

Worry crossed her pretty features, making Cloud mentally cringe; he hadn't wanted to scare her, but he was out of options now. From behind them, he could hear Sephiroth and Vincent storming up the stairs from the lower level.

"What's going on?" Vincent inquired in his usual unemotional voice.

"I think Jeran's estimate was off." Cloud explained with a twitch of his lips. "It looks like Rufus is here."

"We have to get out of here." Vincent hissed between his teeth.

"I won't argue that." Cloud replied.

"Who are you!" Aerith gasped, her face revealing her confusion. "What do you want with me?"

"Aerith," Cloud sighed. "I'm sorry; I didn't want it to happen like this. Rufus is after you. We need you to come with us so you'll be safe."

"The Emperor? Why would he want me? And why would you want to deny him?" Aerith's eyes went wide as a revelation came to her. "What are you plotting!"

Cloud faltered, not really knowing what to say to her; how could he possibly make her understand in moments what had taken him months of first-hand experiences for him to believe?

"We have no time for this." Sephiroth growled, his eyes narrowing as he stepped up to Aerith. "How do you control Holy?"

"Holy?" Aerith whispered, her voice shaking. "I don't know what you mean."

"The white orb your mother gave you." Cloud quietly said as he gave Sephiroth a malicious glare at yet another mention of that word. How Sephiroth knew the name of Aerith's keepsake, and why had he hidden the information from the rest of them? "I think the prayer your mother taught you is actually the incantation that activates this 'Holy'. That's why it protected you when you prayed."

"A spell?" Aerith asked, briefly glancing to the photograph of her parents on the wall. "It's a spell?"

Following her gaze, Vincent's eyes widened as he saw the man and woman in the photograph, but he said nothing.

"What of Chaos?" Sephiroth asked in a frightening tone, causing the girl's attention to come back to him. Reaching out, he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stare into his face and prompting Cloud to let go of her wrist. "Do you know where it is?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aerith shook her head. "You must believe me, I've done nothing."

"Don't touch her, Sephiroth!" Cloud growled as he pushed him back and stepped in front of the girl. His eyes narrowed at the older man, his anger growing stronger at the mention of yet another object that had never been spoken of before. "She doesn't know anything about this stuff, so back off!"

"Fine." Sephiroth mumbled as the pounding on the door intensified. "Is there a back door out of here?"

"Sephiroth?" The fear in Aerith's eyes grew tenfold as she heard his true name. "You are the Butcher?"

"Is there another way out?" Sephiroth bit out, causing the girl to take a step back, but her eyes darted past him to the kitchen. Looking into the small room, he spotted another set of stairs that would lead them out of the house. "Very well. Let's go."

Cloud and Vincent looked to one another, and then to the terrified girl. Despite Cloud's coldness and Vincent's lack of emotion, both of them seemed to feel for her. This was not her fight. She knew nothing of the horrors that existed outside of her tiny village. If they took her now, against her will, it would be nearly impossible to convince her that they were trying to help her, and that Rufus was the one who was evil. If only there was some way to show her the truth.

"Wait!" Cloud said as inspiration struck him. "I have an idea!"

* * *

"There must be something wrong." Said the village elder, a tiny old man who was hunched over his cane with his eyes squinted behind thick glasses. "I know Aerith is home. She is hosting three travelers she met in the forest today."

"Travelers?" Rufus asked, his hands folded behind his back as he glanced at the elder from the corner of his eyes. "You made no mention of this."

"I am sorry, Emperor!" The old man feigned back, the fear of god in him. "I did not think it was of consequence!"

"She may be in danger." Rufus said calmly. He nodded to Rude, who had temporarily ceased knocking on the door. "Go in."

Rude didn't question the order, and with one devastating kick he broke the door off of its hinges, sending it tumbling down the steps that led into the tiny home. Reno darted in first, his materia gun in hand, and Rude went in behind him to lay down cover fire if needed. Rufus and the village elder stayed in place, waiting for word from the two Turks until Reno came back up the steps a few moments later, his lips pursed into a small frown.

"What is it?" Rufus asked, prompting the elder to remain quiet.

"I think you'll want to see this." Reno said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Stay here." Rufus said to the elder, who seemed to think about protesting for a moment before Reno shot him a look that could kill. To ensure that the elder wouldn't get nosey, Rufus motioned to two of the soldiers who had accompanied him to the village and they escorted the elder to a safe distance away.

Following Reno, Rufus walked down the steps and into the small house. The quaint décor was thoroughly ignored as his eyes centered on a small table not far from where the three of them now stood. His eyes narrowed and his lips twitched as he stared unblinking at the man looking at him from a seat at the table.

"Cloud Strife." Rufus greeted him for the second time in a matter of weeks. "Again, I have to ask you, what are you doing here?"

"I would ask you the same question, _Rufus_." Cloud said, emphasizing the other's name without using any sort of title at all. "Except that I already know the answer to that."

"So I gathered." Rufus said, keeping his anger in check as he stepped past the two Turks and pulled up a seat across from the little traitor. "Where is the girl?"

"Can't sense her?" Cloud asked, watching as Reno and Rude stepped up to stand behind and to each side of their boss.

"No."

"Didn't think so." Cloud scoffed. "I figured that you can only sense her when she uses Holy, whereas I can feel her presence at this range without it being summoned at all."

"Really?" Rufus asked quietly, noting that Cloud had learned much since they last spoke; though how much, he couldn't be sure. "I suppose Hojo's experiment was somewhat a success then. Too bad your range is so limited, or I'd have her in my possession long ago."

"Yeah, well, sucks to be you I guess." Cloud said, not bothering to hold back any punches. All the respect he had for Rufus had died by now.

"You're here to protect her, aren't you?" Rufus prodded at him. "Become the knight in shining armor who rescues the princess from the evil king, and all that? You should know that fairy tales are just that; fictional stories. You can't stop me."

"Maybe not." Cloud said, keeping a poker face on and hoping that this 'Holy' was powerful enough to make Rufus fear it. "Or maybe I can. You're not the one who has the girl, remember?"

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Rufus said, ignoring the possible threat the boy had just used on him. "How about this; you give Holy to me, and I'll let you keep the girl as a souvenir. I have no need for her. I'm the Divine Emperor, I can get women any time I feel the need."

"How about you start explaining some things first?"

"Why should I explain my actions," Rufus raised a brow. "When I could just as easily kill you?"

"Because I'm asking nicely." Cloud commented snidely. "And because I have something you want, so how about we just say that it's in the interest of friendly negotiations."

Rufus smirked, but made no effort to respond. Cloud took that as a 'maybe', which was good enough, he supposed. It was time to finally get some answers straight from the devils mouth.

"Why are you working with the demons?" Cloud asked his first question. "And why are you using processed mako to enhance them?"

"Working with them? Enhancing them?" Rufus suddenly began to laugh, a dark and sinister sound. "I seriously misjudged you; I thought you'd learned a few things by now. You're still completely in the dark."

"Then why don't you shine some light on me." Cloud said, trying not to let Rufus' words get to him. "Indulge a stupid kid."

"The demons are artificial." Rufus continued to laugh, but it was now just an unnerving chuckle. "Hojo created them for me years ago. They weren't being enhanced in Midgar when you saw them, they were being forged."

"What?" Cloud couldn't manage to hide his shock at the others words. "But why? They kill your people, and then you have them hunted down!"

"It's all a matter of faith." Rufus lips parted in a sinister grin. "To believe in god, the people must fear the devil."

"Corel," Cloud whispered, his eyes widening as he recalled the story Barret had told them of the fall of his birth place. "You used the demons to attack Corel and completely destroy it to instill fear."

"Very good." Rufus grinned. "Corel was the first city to fall to the 'demons', and it was by far the most horrible disaster to occur in a century. After the people of the world learned of the demons that had decimated Corel, the entire Empire was trembling,"

"And then you swept in." Cloud said, his voice sinking as hatred stirred inside of him.

"Exactly. I pledged that I would make the world safe from the demons, and used the army to destroy them every time they reared their heads. Of course, the army always arrived shortly after the demons appeared anywhere, because I knew where they would attack. There were still a few civilian casualties, but after hearing about what happened to the poor people of Corel, a few dead women or children was an amazing improvement."

"You bastard." Cloud hissed between clenched teeth, his hands balling into fists on the tabletop. "You've caused citizens and soldiers alike to die just to make yourself look better."

"My position as a loving deity was permanently solidified through those actions." Rufus grin widened. "No one doubted my godhood when it was so obvious that I was driving the demons away."

"What about Barret and his friend?" Cloud growled.

"Ah, so you met Mister Wallace, did you?" Rufus chuckled. "That was just another way of expanding the faith, of course. Barret and Dyne were going to be turned into demons as well, but retain much of their human appearance. This way, rumors could begin to spread that the demons had possessed some of the people from Corel."

"Why the hell would you do something like that!"

"Isn't it obvious? The people's faith in me had increased many times since I began fighting back the horrible demons, but that was only because humans fear death. If they were under the impression the demons could not only kill them, but even steal their very soul, my status would grow exponentially."

"I can't believe I had faith in you once." Cloud hissed, slamming his fist down on the table. "You're nothing more than a murderer."

"I have my reasons." Rufus said, his voice suddenly becoming quite serious. "You think I'm evil, but my actions will one day lead this world to peace."

"Stow that ----!" Cloud shouted. "I don't know where you obtained the power you have, but you're no god! You're nothing but a con artist!"

"Maybe I am." Rufus said, the darkness returning to his features. "But I will save humanity from itself nonetheless."

* * *

Guarded and held in place by Sephiroth and Vincent, Aerith listened to the terrifying conversation between Cloud and Emperor Rufus from her small kitchen. She had not struggled against them, not for fear of being injured, but because she could sense that they meant her no harm; or, at the very least, Cloud and Vincent did not, the emotions of the Butcher were harder to translate.

Cloud's "idea" was a suicidal one, which hadn't seemed to surprise his two companions. Perhaps the man was often thinking up such ridiculous plans. He had decided to stay and confront Rufus in the attempt to get answers from him. In addition to wanting the answers to those questions himself, he had told his two friends to keep her in the home, near the back door where they could escape easily. This way she could hear the atrocities of the Empire from Rufus' own mouth, he had believed it was the only way she could be convinced of Rufus' evil intentions.

He was certainly correct. Had she not overheard this talk, she would never have believed such outrageous accusations against the Empire, much less the Emperor himself. All the things Rufus was saying completely negated the things she had heard of his grand and benevolent rule. Sephiroth and Vincent apparently recognized her sagging shoulders and defeated expression as proof that she had forced herself to accept the horrible things she was hearing, because they were preparing to move.

Now the only problem was Cloud himself.

"We cannot leave him behind." Vincent whispered as quietly as he could when he saw Sephiroth starting for the door. "He is risking his life, I won't abandon him."

Sephiroth turned and stared at Vincent, seeming almost shocked at the others caring words.

"We don't have the power to defeat Rufus." Sephiroth replied in an equally quiet tone. "Not yet."

"What of her?" Vincent nodded at Aerith. "This 'Holy' she carries, can it be used?"

"Possibly." Sephiroth said, though he didn't sound all that thrilled about the idea. Looking to Aerith, he asked. "Can you summon Holy?"

"I don't know." Aerith said, her lips trembling in fear of all that was happening. "What should I do?"

Sephiroth's expression darkened again, and it seemed as if he was about to get very harsh with her, but Vincent interrupted him.

"Aerith," he said, his voice suddenly as gentle as his feminine face. She had not heard him speak in such a way until now. "Cloud is risking his life so that you can understand the truth. If we don't get him out of there, he will die. If there's anything you can do, I suggest you try."

Aerith stared at him, unresponsive for a long moment, then she reluctantly nodded her head. Without another sound, she knelt on the floor and folded her hands together, bowing her head against them. She took one shaky breath to gather her composure, and then began quietly whispering a prayer. Sephiroth and Vincent listened and watched with intensity as the Holy orb in her hair began to glow.

* * *

"If you're so damn interested in saving humanity, then why do you want Holy so badly?" Cloud asked. "Planning to use it upgrade your godhood? Or maybe you're going to use it to destroy Wutai since they've never bought into your lies?"

"I can destroy Wutai any time I feel the need to." Rufus smirked. "But if I ordered a full scale invasion, that would tarnish my reputation as a peace-bringer, wouldn't it?"

"So then, what's the catch?"

"Let's just say," Rufus smiled faintly. "That I want to protect Holy from falling into the wrong hands."

Cloud readied a response, but was cut off as the three men across from him all looked towards the kitchen. Inwardly he cursed, he couldn't hear a thing, but apparently all of them had.

"Voices." Rude said quietly. "Coming from that room."

"Two men." Reno joined in. "And one woman."

"Well then, it seems as if we've found our little girl." Rufus said, looking back to Cloud he added. "I'm afraid our negotiations have come to a conclusion."

"Orders?" Rude asked.

"Kill them and bring Holy back to me." Rufus said, and then looked over his shoulder at Reno. "Please thank Mister Strife for this rousing conversation."

"Pleasure." Reno sneered as he reached into his pocket and pulled his materia gun out once more, aiming it at Cloud's forehead as Rude began to walk towards the kitchen.

Cloud prepared to throw the table over and duck behind it for protection from the shot, but he knew that wouldn't save him. Mentally he prepared himself for the inevitable; there was no real way he could escape here with his life now. Then a strange sensation erupted in his mind, causing him to grasp at his head for an instance. It felt as if something deep within his body was trying to tear itself out of him. Reno hesitated just for a second after seeing this, but then it was too late.

With amazing speed, wisps of green energy erupted from the floor boards of the small house and ensnared the two Turks and their Emperor. The three men groaned in pain. Reno and Rude fell to their knees, holding their heads and chests. Rufus, sitting in his chair, seemed to be worse off than his companions. Slouching down, he clutched at his face with shaky hands, his eyes growing lazy and his forehead throbbing as if he was about to be sick. Then as suddenly as it had begun, the wisps died away and the unreal pain Cloud had felt subsided. Using the moment to his advantage, he lunged forward, pulling a knife from his belt and plunged it into Rufus' chest as hard as he could.

"God's don't bleed." He hissed as Rufus cried out in pain. Then he jumped backwards and threw the table over between him and the Turks who were already getting to their feet again. Turning, he darted into the kitchen and spotted Vincent and Aerith at the top of the stairs, holding the door open for him. Sephiroth was still at the bottom of the stairs, beads of sweat all over his skin, he must have experienced the same thing Cloud had. Not asking questions, Cloud darted past him and up the steps. Sephiroth waited a moment to get his bearings and then followed him up as well. Together the four of them ran out of Aerith's home and into the coldness of Icicle Village.

* * *

Rufus Shinra stared down at his chest after Cloud escaped; watching in shock as crimson slowly spread out over his white and black clothing. Rude and Reno both rushed over to him, ignoring the fleeing soldier in favor of tending to Rufus' wound. It was unnecessary, really, his strength was slowly returning to him now that the wisps had vanished. As the weakness the spell caused him faded, he lifted his right hand and gingerly pulled the knife from his chest. Blood briefly sputtered from the wound, and the knife blade dripped thick drops over the legs of his pants.

"Holy." Rufus hissed, as he wiped sweat from his brow, his voice breaking with ragged breath. "They have it."

"Are you alright?" Reno asked, though such a question really wasn't needed. The deep wound in Rufus' chest had already healed without even a scar, leaving only the hole in his clothing and blood.

"I'm fine." Rufus said, his voice coated with anger as he threw the knife across the room with enough force to send it deep into a thick wooden wall twenty feet away. Without a word he quickly walked into the kitchen, heading for the door his prey had escaped from. His steps were shaky at first, but grew steadier as he kept moving. Reno and Rude swiftly followed behind him.

The three of them emerged from the home and quickly spotted Cloud running through the center of the village with a trio of other people. As they watched, the escapees ran straight into a wall of Shinra soldiers who had been waiting in ambush behind a pair of homes. Rufus smiled darkly as he began walking towards the group who had come to a solid halt and were most likely thinking through what limited options they had left.

"You didn't really think you'd get very far, did you?" Rufus yelled as he crossed the distance between them. The four turned around to look at him, and Rufus stopped in mid-step, his teeth grinding together as he saw who Cloud's companions were. Growling beneath his breath, he looked to Rude as if for confirmation of what he was seeing. "How are they here!"

"Sephiroth and Vincent." Rude identified them, shaking his head. "I never thought I'd see them again."

"We didn't know." Reno added, looking utterly pissed. "The Turks are dragging their asses if they didn't catch wind of this."

"This is unacceptable." Rufus hissed.

"Emperor!" A voice from behind them called, causing Rufus to groan in frustration as he turned to see the village elder hobbling towards them, followed by a large group of villagers, young and old alike. The old man stopped in his tracks, his squinted eyes widening as he saw the blood on Rufus' clothes. "You-you are bleeding!"

"God's don't bleed." Rufus snarled the words that Cloud had used earlier; he was sick of the complications to what was supposed to be a simple retrieval. With what seemed like a single movement, Rufus crossed the fifteen feet that separated him from the village elder and struck the man with his fist. From the impact point on the old mans chest, a wave of red light coursed over his body, eroding his flesh as it went until the man was gone completely.

A cry of panic went through the crowd as they watched the Divine Emperor kill their leader, but Rufus didn't stop there. Taking another impossible step, he snatched a young boy from his parents and then seemed to almost shift through time and space back to where Rude and Reno stood.

"Rufus!" Vincent shouted, taking a step towards him but stopping as two dozen weapons were immediately brandished in his direction. "Unhand that child!"

"Who are you to give orders to me, Abomination!" Rufus yelled back, shaking the terrified boy who couldn't be more than eight years old. "I am tired of these ridiculous games! I came for Holy, and I will have it _now_!"

"So much for your goal to save humanity, huh?" Cloud bit out. "Everything you say is a lie!"

"I am a _god_!" Rufus shouted, the rage in his voice so great that it almost seemed to shake the ground. "If god himself decides to sacrifice a single life in order to save thousands, who are humans to judge!"

"You're a lie and nothing more!" Sephiroth chimed in.

"What makes a god!" Rufus screamed, his grip on the child tightening, making the boy cry. "Statues and trees are made into gods every day simply because people choose to believe in them! I am flesh and bone and have shown that I have the power to truly claim godhood, and so the people of the world believe in me! This makes me _the_ god to the people of the Holy Shinra Empire, and as such I command the authority to do whatever I deem necessary for the sake of world order! Whether you understand my vision or not, it makes no difference! Mortals are not to question god's design!"

"Stop it!" Aerith suddenly yelled, breaking her silence. "You are said to be a great man who protects and keeps peace, why then do you kill and threaten us now!"  
"To keep peace some must be sacrificed!" Rufus retaliated. "This is the way of the world! The lives of a few are nothing compared to the lives of the many!"

Rufus straightened himself and lifted the crying boy into the air with a single hand. The crowd behind him tensed, many of them mumbling in fear and confusion, but none of them made a move to stop him as Reno and Rude both turned and aimed their materia guns to silence them.

"I understand this; that is what makes me a god." He said, his lips curling. "And my godhood is what allows me to choose who lives and who dies for a greater purpose."

"Rufus, don't!" Cloud shouted, knowing what was about to happen, but it was too late. With a casual flick of his wrist, Rufus sent the child flying faster than a magic-charged bullet could be fired from a materia gun. With a heavy thud and a loud crack, the child slammed into the stone wall of the village church and slid down to the ground where he remained motionless. The blood smeared on the wall and the silence coming from the body evidence that he was dead.

From the crowd, the child's parents screamed in horror and ran towards their fallen son, only to be shot dead by Reno and Rude for daring to ignore their unspoken order to remain still.

"You bastards!" Vincent shouted, emotion suddenly surging through him as he leapt forward, fully intending to kill them all or die trying. Before he had run two feet Reno had turned and fired his gun twice, both rounds hitting Vincent square in the chest and sending him tumbling to the ground where his blood darkened the snow.

"Now do you understand?" Rufus said with hatred as he stared at Cloud. "In the face of god, you are powerless. Give Holy to me, or I will kill everyone here."

"No!" Aerith shouted with tears in her eyes as she began to run forward, clearly intent on sacrificing herself if it would save the people of her village.

"Stop!" Sephiroth ordered, stepping forward and grabbing her arm to prevent her from running.

"But I can't let this happen!"

"He's lying, Aerith!" Cloud told her, coming up and forcing her to look at him. "He's going to kill them all no matter what you do. The people here have seen too much for him to let them live."

"Then what does it matter what I do!" Aerith cried out, trying to wrestle away from the two men.

"It matters because we can't die here." Vincent hissed as he stood, his wounds healing as the magical rounds popped out of his flesh. "If we do, Rufus will never be stopped, and I will never exact my revenge on Hojo."

Aerith was about to scream something else, but her voice was drowned out by an intensely loud humming and thumping sound that suddenly came over them. The ground became dark with an enormous shadow as the Highwind hovered overhead. Two rope ladders were dropped down this time as Tifa manned one of the ships cannons and began firing magical blasts at the soldiers surrounding the rest of their party. Jessie manned one of the Highwind's materia cannons and opened fire at Rufus, Reno, and Rude to buy some time. Cloud and Sephiroth forced Aerith to grab the ladder, and then Cloud began climbing up behind her. Vincent and Sephiroth leapt onto the other and the ship ascended into the sky as quickly as Cid could pilot it, flying away with all of them aboard before anything could be done about it.

"No!" Rufus roared, the sound guttural and monstrous. "They have the Highwind too!"

This was completely intolerable. How could Cloud, a naïve soldier have gathered such a force against him in a matter of weeks without anyone catching wind of it? Then, through his rage, Rufus recalled the message that had been sent to him by Heidegger when he had first arrived in the Frozen North. Though it still lay in his cabin aboard the Gloriosa, he now knew what it pertained to; the theft of the Highwind.

Turning to Reno and Rude with undying fury in his eyes, he reached out and grabbed Reno by the collar, jerking him forward until their faces were nearly touching.

"Follow them!" He howled into the red-heads ears. "Kill them all and bring Holy and the Highwind back to me unharmed!"

"Right. I'll get 'em." Reno said stiffly, apparently not too shocked at the way Rufus was lashing out. Turning away from his companions, he darted past the crowd and was soon out of sight.

"What now?" Rude asked, his gun still trained on the horrified villagers.

"Kill them all!" Rufus roared as he pointed his fingertips at a middle-aged villager. Rays of blue-white energy lurched from his palm and slammed into the man, causing his body to shatter into a thousand pieces that flew over the rest of the crowd. "Burn this village to the ground!"


	7. Chapter VII Adding to the Noise

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

I feel the need to mention this before anyone starts to read further. One of the largest departures from the game is started in this chapter. The changes I've made up until now, I feel, are small in comparison to what happens here, so I implore my readers to remember that this is an AU story. Please just remember that this isn't meant to follow the world that the game set out, and try to enjoy it without comparing it to what you already know of FFVII.

Check back next weekend for chapter VIII.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or send them directly to me. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter VII

Adding to the Noise

The Highwind sped away from the village of Icicle, and the growing party did their best not to think about the fates of the poor souls they'd left behind. Aerith was understandably devastated, but the rest of the party remained largely detached from what had happened; they had seen it happen before, and were growing used to such genocidal actions from the Empire. Tifa, and Jessie had tried to introduce themselves to the new girl once they had spoken to Cloud and found out who she was and why she was here with them. Aerith had greeted them both, but her mind had obviously been elsewhere.

Tseng, on the other hand, seemed more interested in speaking with Sephiroth about what had happened rather than caring about the mental stability of the poor girl who'd just had her peaceful life ruined. As for Cid, he hadn't bothered to leave the Highwind's controls for even a moment, as if he was holding onto every second of his freedom for fear he would lose it again.

Vincent spoke briefly with Jessie, asking her if she thought Aerith was well enough to answer a question he had on his mind. He had correctly assumed that she would be able to read the girl better than he, especially after his years in isolation. With a half-lit green light from the engineer, he approached Aerith cautiously.

"Excuse me." He said in as soft a voice as he could manage, but it seemed as if his unusual emotional outbursts had faded back to his standard monotone. "I'd like to ask you something."

Aerith looked up from her seat in the Highwind's crew lounge where she sat, hugging her knees and quietly crying into the fabric of her coat. She said nothing, the sorrow on her face and the pain in her heart probably too great for her to form words easily, but she made no effort to deny his request.

"Your parents." Vincent said as he thought of the photograph he'd seen in her home. "What were their names?"

"Uhm." Aerith faltered, wiping at her eyes as she tried to find her voice. "My mother was Ilfana, my father was Gast. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing." Vincent said, shaking his head in a vain attempt at hiding his thoughts. "I will discuss it with you later, I'm sure you need some time by yourself."

Before Aerith could argue the point, Vincent walked away, the fine skin of his forehead creasing with thought. The photograph had sparked recognition, but he hadn't been certain until he had heard their names. Now there was no denying it, such things couldn't be mere coincidences. Professor Gast, the brilliant scientist who had founded much of the Empires science division, and Ilfana, the first living Ancient to have been documented in over a thousand years. The two of them had supposedly died in an explosion at Gast's laboratory over thirty years ago. They were Aerith's parents?

_But in that case,_ Vincent thought. _Did Gast learn of Rufus' plans and fake their deaths so they could flee? And if it's true that Ilfana gave Aerith this Holy orb, did she have it that entire time?_

The questions buzzed in Vincent's head like a swarm of angry bees, but he wasn't about to ask Aerith any more on this matter just yet. At the moment she was far too fragile, and he wasn't very certain that she could answer any of his questions to begin with; she had already proven that she knew little, if not nothing, about the things that were transpiring.

As Vincent left her, Cloud approached the girl alongside of Tifa, who was concerned for the her state of mind despite having just met her. Cloud had explained enough to make Tifa feel deeply sorry for her already.

"Aerith?" Cloud said, crouching down next to the girl and looking over her. "Are you alright?"

"No." She said, the word coming out almost reflexively as she looked up at him and Tifa in turn with tears in her eyes. "How could I possibly be alright?"

"I'm sorry." Cloud frowned, moving his body back a little. "I didn't mean to belittle what you've just seen."

"How can the Emperor believe he is doing the right thing?" Aerith asked, her voice starting to choke up once again. "How can he think murder and lies will lead the world to peace?"

"I don't know, Aerith." Cloud said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's a messed up guy, people like that don't always think straight."

"My parents didn't trust him, but they never told me why." She quietly wept. "How could I have been so blind? I thought he was our savior."

"We all did." Tifa soothed. "Most of the world has fallen for his act."

"What can I do now? All the villagers, my friends and neighbors, they're dead because of me."

"No." Cloud said sternly. "It's not your fault. It's Rufus' fault, no one else is to blame except him. You have to understand that."

"It's all so wrong." Her head dropped to her knees again and her shoulders shook as her tears increased. "So very wrong."

"I know." Cloud said with a lump in his throat. "But don't worry, you're safe with us."

Aerith didn't respond this time, and Cloud stood, nodding to Tifa who took the hint and sat down next to the girl, wrapping an arm around her to try and show her that she was safe. Tifa started saying something to her, probably reassuring her of her safety and that she shouldn't feel guilty that she was forced to flee, but Cloud wasn't listening anymore. Looking around, he spotted Tseng and Sephiroth discussing things in another area of the lounge, and he swiftly walked to them.

"What are you not telling us?" He demanded, his angry voice cutting into their conversation like a knife.

"I'm afraid I don't follow." Sephiroth said calmly.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Cloud snapped, grabbing the other man by the collar of his coat. "You knew the name of that spell orb when even she didn't. You also mentioned another one called Chaos. What are you hiding?"

"I am hiding nothing." Sephiroth's lips set in a firm line as he batted Cloud's hand away. "Holy and Chaos are the names of the power sources Rufus is seeking, I learned this years ago from my investigations."

"Yeah? So why didn't you tell us about it?" Cloud stared into the Butcher's face.

"The names are unimportant." Sephiroth retorted, meeting Cloud's gaze evenly. "Knowing them would have served you no purpose."

"And how'd you know that Holy would hurt Rufus and his goons?"

"Come now, Cloud." Sephiroth shook his head. "A spell sought by the Emperor himself? Surely even you would have expected it to be strong enough to effect him if he was so intent on finding it. Or are you just looking for reasons to not trust me because you cannot let go of your past?"

"Shut up!" Cloud bit out, pointing a finger in Sephiroth's face. "I already didn't trust a goddamn thing you said, and now I find out that you're purposely keeping information from us? I'm sick of this ----!"

It seemed as if Sephiroth was about to respond with another snide comment, but he was cut off as the Highwind abruptly jerked. Everyone looked around, wondering what had happened, and then they realized that they were beginning to descend rather quickly.

"What's going on?" Cloud shouted over the sound of rushing air.

"I don't think anything hit us!" Jessie yelled back as she began running towards the hatch that would take her to the control room. "That felt more like the engines died on us!"

"What!" Tifa raised her voice as her beautiful face twisted with worry.

Ignoring the yells from everyone, Jessie swung the hatch to the hall open and darted inside. She ran down a small flight of stairs and across a short corridor with rooms jutting off to each side. After going through one last hatch that led up to the ships deck, she arrived at the large control room. There, amongst the many instruments and massive glass panels that allowed the crew to see outside, was Sherra and Cid.

"What's going on?" Jessie ran to them, noticing that they were frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers to no avail.

"We got problems!" Cid barked as he looked over his shoulder and spotted her. "Instruments all just died!"

"Everything?" Jessie gasped in shock, such a catastrophic meltdown seemed nearly impossible after she'd looked over the Highwind's design; the ship was practically flawless. "Did the system short out?"

"No." Sherra said, clearly concerned but sounding a bit more composed than her husband. "It's like some one just flipped a switch and turned the ship off."

"Can you fix it?" Jessie asked, her voice hurried.

"---- no." Cid cursed through clenched teeth as he looked out of the viewing glass to see another of the Frozen North's many forests rushing up at them. "You better hold onto something, kid. We're going down."

* * *

Like a speeding silver bullet, the Highwind fell from the clear blue sky and into the white-green palette of forest below. With heavy crunches the nose of the massive ship began scalping the tree line. Dipping further down as it continued its descent the ship was pummeled by branches; dents and gashes appearing all along its hull. At last the Highwind hit the ground, sending a wave of dirt and snow flying up as the ship slowed and finally came to a halt.

Cid mumbled something obscene under his breath as he pulled himself up, then helped Sherra to her feet before he began looking over the ships controls.

"Oh man." Jessie groaned as she staggered to her feet from where she'd fallen. Rubbing a hand over her sore rear, she looked around the control room. "How bad is it?"

"Damn systems are still down." Cid barked as he kicked one of the circuit cabinets. "We're dead in the ----in' water."

"I still don't understand what happened." Sherra said as she keyed a few buttons but received no response from the ship. "We're going to have to manually inspect the ship to diagnose the problem. It's a good thing we didn't have much altitude yet, or we'd probably be dead."

"Hey girl." Cid said, looking back to Jessie. "You're an engineer, right? You any good?"

"They don't get much better than me." She replied, drawing herself up to her full height and puffing her chest out a bit. "What do you need?"

"Just follow me." Cid grumbled as he stepped away from the consoles and headed out of the control room and towards the deck hatch. "You can help us figure this ---- out."

"We need to check on the others first." Jessie said, sprinting past Cid and back to the crew lounge. The Highwind's captain uttered something unnecessary again, but followed her anyway after a dirty look from his wife.

The lounge was a total mess with books, snacks, pillows, and a wide assortment of other luxuries strewn about as if a herd of wild children had run through it. Fortunately, the mess was the only problem. There had been no internal damage to the lounge, and aside from a few bruises here and there, none of the passengers had been injured; although, they had been thrown around quite a bit.

"What happened?" Vincent, who didn't seem phased by the crash at all, asked.

"Don't know yet." Cid said before Jessie could answer. "Systems are dead; we're going to have to look around to find out what happened. Could take a while."

"We should exit the ship and secure the perimeter." Sephiroth said as rolled his left shoulder around from where he'd landed on it.

"Who's going?." Cloud asked as he reached down and helped Aerith off the floor and back into her seat.

"I am!" Tifa told him, popping her knuckles as she did. "I've been sitting in here too long. I could use the exercise."

"We'll get started on whatever repairs need to be made." Jessie said for Cid, who had already started to leave now that it was clear everyone was fine.

"You better stay here." Tifa said to Aerith.

Aerith nodded, but it was merely a reflex. Her mind was no longer on the topic at hand, or even what had happened in the village. Something about this place where they had crashed was strange, but she didn't know how or why she even thought so to begin with.

"Some one should stay with her." Tseng said, checking to make sure his materia gun hadn't been damaged by his fall as he said so.

"I will." Sephiroth announced. "The rest of you fan out and survey the area, but be back here within fifteen minutes. If you run into danger, fall back to the ship at once."

"I don't think so." Cloud said, his voice stern as he stepped up to Sephiroth and pointed a gloved finger in his face. "I'm not leaving you alone with Aerith. You go do reconnaissance. I'll stay with her."

Sephiroth stared back at the young blond with a cold, unemotional gaze for several tense moments before he finally scoffed and stepped past him. "Very well."

* * *

The brief exploration of the Highwind's crash site turned up nothing. They were surrounded by little more than trees, and those weren't exactly dangerous unless by some insane twist of fate, one of them should happen to fall on the ship. Give or take a few minutes, the search party had all returned to the ship within the time they had been allotted, but when they entered the crew lounge they found it devoid of life. Confused and concerned as to where Aerith and Cloud could be, they split up and searched within the ship itself, but only managed to find Jessie, Cid, and Sherra who were still diagnosing the Highwind's problems. None of the three engineers knew where the two could have gone.

With the ship ruled out, they headed back outside to search further. This time Tseng opted to stay with the Highwind to protect it while it was being repaired, so their numbers were further reduced. Though at least two of the remaining members were concerned, they didn't have to search long. They located their stray companions not more than a mile away, standing in a small clearing in the forest, facing a spot where the woods changed dramatically. The trees they had crashed into were spread out and sporadic, otherwise the Highwind would have been torn to shreds rather than badly dented up. Laid out before them though, the forest abruptly changed into a dense wall of oddly colored white and gray trees that were so closely compacted together that it seemed unthinkable that anyone could navigate through.

Aerith was staring at this new tree line intently; her delicate features startled and fixated on the enormous plants as if they were the key to some abnormal secret that she had just discovered. Cloud stood not far behind her, looking uncomfortable in this place. As Tifa, Vincent, and Sephiroth entered the clearing, Cloud turned around with his hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword, but relaxed once he saw it was them.

"I thought you were staying on the ship to keep her safe?" Sephiroth asked in a way that was sure to get under the boy's skin.

"It wasn't my idea." Cloud growled at the silver haired man, motioning back towards Aerith as he did so. "She insisted, and I'd have had to tie her down to stop her."

"Her idea?" Tifa asked, sounding as confused as the others looked.

"Yeah." Cloud said as he turned his head to look once more at their newest party member. "She said she felt something calling to her. I had thought she was having a mental breakdown over what happened, but now that I'm here, I feel something too."

"The forest?" Sephiroth asked, looking to the strange configuration of trees with enhanced interest.

"Something is inside." Aerith spoke up, though her voice remained quiet and distant. There was uncertainty in her tone, and fear. "I don't know what, but there's something in those trees, and it wants me to come to it."

Aerith took a slow step forward, holding her hands to her heart as her body trembled. Nothing happened. She took another step towards the strange wall of trees, and then it all changed at once. To the shock of everyone, the center of the line of trees began to warp. The vision before them altered, in what almost seemed like an optical illusion, the trunks slid to the left and right, opening up a thin path illuminated by a soft white light that coated it in a haze and gave the entire scene a dreamlike quality.

"What the hell is going on?" Cloud whispered, awe struck by what they had just seen.

The path was lost to darkness not more than twenty feet in, but as Aerith took another shaky step towards the new walkway the darkness crept back just slightly. It was as if the forest itself was beckoning for her to enter.

"Aerith, don't go." Tifa's eyes darted over the eerie path. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"I-I can't help it." Aerith stammered, fear in her voice. "I can't stop myself."

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other with worry, and then Cloud stepped forward, obviously intent on physically picking the girl up and taking her away from this ghostly place. Before he could reach her, though, Sephiroth stretched his arm out and blocked the younger man's path.

"Let her go." Sephiroth said quietly.

"Are you crazy!" Cloud snapped, reaching up to knock Sephiroth's arm out of his way.

Turning to face him with fury in his cat-slit eyes, the former general lifted his arm again and shoved his palm into Cloud's chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cloud bit out, his hands immediately balling into fists as he brought them up, clearly intent on throwing punches.

"Your senses aren't as fine tuned as mine because your blood is weak." Sephiroth said, his voice laced with an unspoken threat that told Cloud to back down. "She is not in danger; she only fears the unknown."

Cloud pointed a finger at the hazy pathway in the forest ahead of them. "Fear of the unknown, especially when _that_ is happening, is a damn good thing!" He had no idea what Sephiroth was talking about with that blood business, but he wasn't in the mood to debate it right now.

"He's right, Cloud." Aerith spoke up, she'd taken several more steps towards the path but her voice wasn't as shaken now. "I don't feel danger, but something important is inside, and it wants me to come."

"Aerith, it's too risk-"

"I will go with her, then." Vincent at last broke his silence, moving past the others to fall in stride to the left of Aerith. He knew what Sephiroth had meant when he'd spoken of blood, and if both of the halflings sensed no danger, then that was enough for him.

"What!" Tifa gasped out, obviously thrown for a loop by the casual way Sephiroth and Vincent were going about this ordeal.

"Fine." Cloud ground his teeth, knowing that it was pointless to argue with both of the creepy men, they would certainly get what they wanted, regardless of his opinion. "Then I'm going too."

"I'll return to the ship." Sephiroth announced. "I'm uncomfortable with only Tseng being there. He is skilled, but he is not in a position to properly guard the Highwind on his own."

"Yeah, you do that." Cloud growled, but didn't bother saying anything else as the former general began walking back towards the crash site. He was glad to be rid of him, anyway. Turning, he saw that Aerith and Vincent hadn't so much as hesitated in their walk during that brief exchange, and were already inside of the tree line. With a frustrated sigh, Cloud took off on a jog to catch up to them, calling for Tifa to hurry up from over his shoulder.

Tifa looked to the disturbingly freakish pathway for a long moment before sighing and falling into place behind Cloud as he headed for Aerith and Vincent. She had a very, very bad feeling about this.

* * *

The four of them walked through the mist laden path through the gray and white forest in total silence, all of them wondering what this new bit of insanity would lead them to. Cloud, for one, was getting sick of unexpected events, and as such he was neither looking forward to nor expecting what happened next. After only fifteen minutes or so of their slow shuffle the forest abruptly ended and the party found themselves overlooking an incredible sight.

They had entered another clearing that dipped down from where they now stood, though this one was far larger than the last. The roughly circular area stretched for over a mile, and yet the entire clearing was enveloped by a canopy of limbs and leaves from the trees along the outskirts stretched impossibly long to cover such a massive expanse. The unbelievable tree cover was thoroughly ignored, however, as they looked down into the dipping clearing and at the dreamlike vision that it held. Stretched out before them was some sort of city, abandoned and left for ruin long ago, but nothing about these ruins were ordinary.

The dozens of buildings were constructed of what could only be massive sea shells, the size and likes of which none of them had ever seen or heard of before. The unusual buildings were set up in a vaguely circular pattern, extending out on either side from a single sea shell, the tip of which rose high in the air, easily making it the largest of the structures. Connecting each of the buildings, and also running straight from the large shell down the center of the circle and out towards their forest path, were roads that looked as if they were made from thousands of smaller shells, pearls, and tiny fossils.

The ancient city was also host to massive gardens of multi-colored coral reef that were situated here and there as if they were typical shrubberies. On the outskirts of the ruins, the trees of the forest and the ground around it were absolutely teaming with life. The cold atmosphere of the Frozen North also seemed to be blocked from this place, creating a near tropical temperature, and causing an abundance of brightly colored flowers and plants to surround the city. There were even small animals frolicking about in the plant life. In the midst of it all, the city itself seemed to glow with an unearthly light, punctuated by the pearly shine of the enormous sea shells. The entire image was absolutely surreal, none of them had ever so much as heard of such a place existing on this world.

Cloud stared out over the city in awe. The natural beauty was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Nothing in the Empire could hope to compare to the breathtaking view laid out before him; not the massive capital of Midgar, not the majestic and old world city of Kalm, and not the mechanized and industrial mecca of Junon. It seemed as if the others were equally impressed as no one had made a sound outside of a few gasps since they had arrived at this visual nirvana.

"Look." Aerith broke the silence at last, her lovely voice quiet as if in reverence to this stunning place.

She raised a delicate hand and pointed to the central and largest sea shell building. The others looked to it, but it took them a few seconds to notice what she had. All the buildings in the city were abandoned, as evident by their darkened windows and doors, as well as the lack of people. However, the doorway to the largest building stood open in their direction and a faint blue light was coming from inside. Just like the light in the forest beforehand, it was apparently beckoning for them to come to it.

No one spoke as they looked to the lit building; it was quite possible that seeing this city had left them all speechless, which would be completely understandable. It wasn't until Aerith let out a quiet breath and began silently walking down the slanted ground towards the ruins that the others broke from their staring trance and followed after her.

* * *

Aerith was the first to step inside the sea-shell building when they reached it. Inside she found a dome shaped room with several doors and stairs leading off into parts of the building. At the center of the room was a staircase made of a semi-transparent crystal that spiraled down beneath the surface; the staircase itself seemed to be the source of the glow they had seen from outside, as each step shone brightly in the otherwise dark room. The amount of dust coating the floor surprised her as it couldn't be more than a few months worth of collection, but it was painfully clear that this city had been abandoned ages ago.

The others seemed to be equally perplexed as they entered behind him and took a gander at the strange place they'd found themselves in. It was plain to see what their path was, so there was no need for any of them to say anything. In silence, they all walked to the spiral stairs and began descending into the dimly glowing depths. There were no rails to protect them from falling, and there were no walls lining the stairway as they headed down. In fact, it appeared that darkness engulfed everything around them except for the stairs. It was more than enough to make them all afraid of heights.

An eternity passed before the spiral straightened into a clear flight of stairs that at last ended at a large, arching doorway standing in the midst of the pitch black. Unfortunately, they couldn't see what lay beyond due to the bright light emitting from it. Tifa couldn't help but think that the unusual sight resembled the proverbial white light at the end of the tunnel as they wordlessly passed through its arches and found themselves in yet another fantastic setting. They now stood on an enormous platform that seemed to be floating amidst the darkness built of smooth, shining metal and encased by tall slabs of glowing crystal that circled it, forming an uneven wall around them.

Here, deep below the ruined city on the surface, they were staring blankly at _another_ city; the buildings of this one completely different in design from the ones before. Rather than a natural beauty, these structures had been designed and built by an architect with a flair for the sleek and eye-catching. The floor of the platform was covered in crystal clear water, forming a artificially constructed lake. Jutting from that lake were hundreds of pillars colored silver and white that played host to the buildings and walkways they now stood amongst.

The four of them looked around in shock at what they had stumbled in to. Just like the city above, this place was unlike anything else they'd ever seen. Nothing on the planet could compare to what was laid out before their eyes.

"What is this place?" Tifa asked, her whisper sounding loud in the otherwise total silence. "It's so…unreal."

"Yet here we stand." Vincent helpfully added.

"Look." Aerith said, pointing over a railing near them. Near the center of the sparkling lake below them was some sort of room, just barely above the water level. Just as the building in the ruined city above had been, this one was lit up to once again guide them to their apparent destination.

"I guess we shouldn't keep our host waiting." Cloud said as he frowned and looked around. "Does anyone see the way down?"

Before the others could answer the floor beneath their feet began to hum, a soft glow emitting from tiny gems that were embedded there. As they watched the glow slowly extended in a line that led along the walk paths, shifting direction now and again as it showed them the way.

"Never mind." Cloud said. "Looks like they just rolled out the red carpet for us."

They began walking along the glowing stones, slowly moving through the strange city as it led them to a single path that skimmed the surface of the water and extended to the structure at the center of the lake. A small flight of stairs led up to an archway that served as its door, beyond which was a floor made of the same metal and gem material they had seen everywhere else. The round room had no roof, and aside from the opening at the top, the glass walls formed a perfect globe around it that was held in place by three metal braces that came up from the floor and hugged the glass from the outside. For all intents and purposes, it looked almost like a gigantic candle holder.

Cloud was just about to walk up the stairs and into the odd looking room when Tifa called out to them from behind.

"Look at this." She said from where she was kneeling down on the walk path and staring down into the depths of the water. With its amazing clarity, they could see all the way to the bottom, where there were hundreds of objects of varying lengths and widths that appeared to be wrapped in white cloth.

"Bodies?" Vincent pondered out loud, adding vocals to the creepy feeling they were all receiving.

"I can't tell. The water's distorting it." Tifa said as she squinted her eyes and leaned forward, her long hair falling past her shoulders and barely skimming the liquid.

_Please, do not touch the water._

Tifa jumped up, looking around quickly with panic clearly etched on her face. She'd heard a voice, but it had been inside of her head. It didn't take her long to realize the others had heard it too, as they were behaving in similar fashions.

"What the hell was that?" Cloud asked, his hand firmly gripping the hilt of his Buster Sword.

_Please, do not be afraid. I mean you no harm._

To accompany the mental voice, a sound emanated from the room ahead of them, prompting them all to turn and look. There, in the center of the glass globe, a strangely glowing woman had become visible. She wore long, flowing robes that covered almost every inch of her body and shimmered in multiple colors every time she moved. As they looked to her face, the only part of her body that wasn't covered, it became clear that she was not human. Long blue hair rolled down her back, almost covering the lengthy, softly furred and pointed ears that extended from the sides of her head. Her nose was like that of an animal; a light pink nub with small incision's for nostrils. She stared at them with wide, yellow eyes, the pupils of which were slit like a cat's. In fact, her entire appearance seemed a bit feline. The cat-like woman crossed her hands at her waist and bowed her upper body to them briefly, her entire form flickering in and out of existence as she did so.

"An Ancient." Vincent breathed out, his eyes wide with shock that was uncharacteristic of him.

_Greetings child of the Cetra, and visitors from afar. _Her voice spoke into their minds. _Welcome to the Eternal City of the Stars.

* * *

_

Cloud watched the strange, feline-looking woman in astounded silence. He just couldn't understand how she had snuck up on them like that, not with all their skills. In fact, he couldn't even figure out how she'd come into the room to begin with. It had been empty just moments ago, and the only visible door was the one they were standing in front of.

"Cetra?" He asked at last as the woman's words registered.

"That is the true name of the species we call the Ancients." Vincent explained.

"You're an Ancient?" Tifa asked to the glowing woman.

_Oh no. _The woman's words resounded within their minds. _I merely choose to appear as a Cetra in order to better communicate with them._

"But there are no Cetra here." Cloud said, wondering what the woman was getting at.

_You are both correct, and incorrect._

"How's that?" Cloud asked, his voice skeptical.

"Aerith." Vincent said, nodding to the girl. "I hadn't had the chance to tell any of you yet, but I recognized her parents from a photograph she had in her home. Professor Gast, and Ilfana."

"What?" Cloud spun to look at Aerith, then Vincent in turn. "But you said that Ilfana was an Ancient!"

"She was." Aerith spoke quietly. "Mother was a Cetra, she used some sort of disguise to appear human, and hide her heritage from the people of Icicle."

"Then it's true? You're half Ancient?" Tifa asked, bewildered. "But you look normal to me."

_There are only a few differences between Cetra and human in physical form. It would seem that her father's DNA was more dominant in her appearance, and so she looks entirely human._

"Yes." Aerith nodded, looking at the ground as she did so. "I've never told anyone about this. My parents said that I would be in danger if I ever revealed my heritage to anyone."

"Rufus would have found you long ago had you done so." Vincent said. "And those in your village may have hated you for being different. It is human nature to do so."

"That explains a few things." Cloud said, wondering if Ilfana had owned the Holy orb because of her species. "And that's why you greeted us like that? Because Aerith is half Cetra?"

_You are correct._

"Well, what about you?" Aerith asked the glowing woman. "You said you only _look_ like a Cetra, so what are you really?"

_I am Ahziralirul, both the caretaker of this city, as well as the city itself._

"Can you be a little more specific?" Cloud scoffed. Her answer hadn't exactly been crystal clear.

_Certainly. To obtain a city that could perform the functions the Cetra required, it would need many things; for example, power and guidance. To fulfill these needs, the Cetra created me, the Eternal City of the Stars._

"Alright." Cloud said, though that circular reasoning hadn't really helped explain it any better. "Then can you tell me what the Eternal City of the Stars is?"

_Certainly. The Eternal City of the Stars, also known as Ahziralirul, is a self sustaining city created to house a colony of Cetra warriors during their long journey through the stars._

"The stars?" Vincent asked. "This city came from another world?"

_That is correct, unknown organism named Vincent. _Ahziralirul said. _In order to create such a city, the Cetra merged a multitude of sea creatures together with advanced technology in order to create a living vessel capable of sustaining itself indefinitely._

As Ahziralirul spoke, she waved her hand and a semi-transparent image came to life in mid air next to her. It showed what appeared to be a scaled down version of the Eternal City of the Stars. It was comprised primarily of three enormous sea cones that had been joined together at their bases to create something close to a triangle when viewed from above. A city of much smaller sea shells with some sort of transparent dome surrounding it was constructed atop the merged bases of the larger three; that would have been the ruined city they saw on the surface. Apparently, the forest around the city was actually growing overtop of this enormous vessel, and only the ruins still remained above ground.

_The souls of these living creatures, primarily the three wise and ancient Krysshkrash Snails that lived deep within the oceans, were merged into a single sentient soul that was then integrated into the inner city's computer systems. The resulting life form is I, Ahziralirul._

"So, you're a computer?" Tifa asked, trying to grasp what was being said here.

_Correct, but I am also alive. I am the merger of many souls into a single entity, made eternal by my ties to the city's technology. I command all of the Eternal City of the Stars functions, some of which are; navigation, data storage, life support, janitorial services, and many others._

"And this is why you speak to us through our minds." Vincent said, nodding. "You are non-corporeal, and so you must communicate telepathically."

_That is correct, unknown organism named Vincent. It is also beneficial, as I do not know your human language, but am able to translate your conscious thoughts quite effectively._

"Lucrecia never told me any of this." He said to no one in particular, and choosing not to mention his displeasure over the way Ahziralirul was addressing him.

"I have a question." Cloud spoke up again.

_My knowledge is at your disposal._

"If this city came from space, does that mean the Cetra were not originally from this world?"

_That is correct. The Cetra originated from the planet Ce, in the Omicron star system. _

"Then why did they come here?" Aerith asked. "My mother never told me of the Cetra's history."

_The Cetra constructed the Eternal City of the Stars and selected the greatest of Ce's warriors to inhabit the city and pursue the Greater Demon._

"Greater Demon?" Tifa asked, her fine brows furrowing in concern over that ominous title. "What's that?"

_Why, Jenova, of course.

* * *

_

As Ahziralirul spoke that name into their minds, all eyes turned towards Cloud. Among the many things done to him by Hojo to make him into a makeshift copy of Sephiroth, a sample of some substance known only as "Jenova" had been used. None of them knew what that meant, nor had they ever heard the word before or again; until now.

"Alright." Cloud said, his voice a little strained as he thought this one through. "Can you explain to us what this Jenova is exactly?"

_Certainly. _Ahziralirul waved her hand once more, and a new set of floating images appeared next to her. The first of which was a beautiful blue and green sphere.

_On their home world of Ce, the Cetra developed a unique balance of nature and technology. Their science was advanced, but they went to great lengths to assure that their world would remain pure despite the constant resources needed to further their civilization. In the pursuit of this noble goal, they created many hybrids of biology and machinery, such as myself._

_It was several millennia ago that contact with the organism that would come to be known as the Greater Demon Jenova took place. The creature descended upon the planet of Ce, shaping itself into a form that loosely resembled a member of the Cetra race and approached them as a friend from the stars._

The image of the planet melted into a slideshow of pictures depicting massive carnage; cities in ruins, forests aflame, thousands dead. The party found themselves horrified by what they were being shown.

_As you can see, Jenova's call for peace was merely a deception. As Cetra ambassadors approached her, she infected them with a terrible sickness that resulted in their eventual demise. This virus spread, and as the Cetra desperately tried to slow its advance, the Greater Demon Jenova unleashed her wrath upon their world. Millions died, entire continents were turned to ash; none had ever witnessed a creature of such horrible power._

_However, Jenova had severely underestimated the Cetra. She had mistaken their love of nature and biological creations as a sign that they were capable of advanced technology. After the initial onslaught, the Cetra rallied and began developing ways of fighting back against the Greater Demon._

Again the images changed, now showing thousands of the cat-like Cetra wielding weapons that emitted a strange, blue-white light. With these armaments, the Cetra were engaged in battle with an enormous and fearsome creature composed of jutting limbs, pulsing organs, and spiky tentacles.

_To combat Jenova, the Cetra created the Atma Weapons; melee and projectile weapons that combined science and magic to create ephemeral beams. The Atma Weapons could bypass Jenova's near impregnable defenses and strike at the source of her terrible power; her very soul. Shocked by the turn of events and badly injured, Jenova fled the world of Ce._

_It was after the retreat of Jenova that the surviving Cetra made the decision to create the Eternal City of the Stars in order to track the fleeing beast and destroy it once and for all so that other worlds would not befall such destruction. The greatest of Ce's warriors were chosen to board the colony vessel and leave their home world for as long as it took to find and defeat Jenova._

"And that's what led them here?" Tifa asked.

_Correct. Eventually, the Cetra were able to trace Jenova's path of carnage to this world. Here they did battle with the Greater Demon once more, and emerged victorious. Jenova was defeated, and her soul sealed away._

"Sealed?" Vincent interrupted. "Jenova was not destroyed?"

_You are, unfortunately, correct. The Greater Demon's life force proved too powerful for the Cetra to fully destroy without annihilating this world in the process. To avoid doing such a thing, the Cetra used their magic to separate Jenova's weakened soul from her body, sealing her away for eternity._

"But it didn't work." Cloud said, his mouth set in a frown as he began to understand what was happening. "Did it?"

_No, it did not. Approximately eighty years ago my systems detected that the soul of Jenova had been released. Although she is still very weak, and merely a shadow of her former self, she has remained active and stable to this very day._

"Rufus." Vincent said, stating what all of them were thinking.

"He must have stumbled across this thing when he was young." Cloud shook his head. "Do you think it possessed him?"

_This is the most probable conclusion I have been able to deduce._

"And to think, I have some of that thing in me." Cloud let out a deep breath. "Okay. So if Rufus is actually what's left of Jenova, how do we beat him?"

_I regret to inform you that I am unable to assist you in this endeavor. This ship, while well armed, has been thoroughly buried by time. I will be unable to lift off. I also do not have access to any of the Cetra weapons or magic's that could aid you. It is for these reasons that I suggest you seek out the Cetra and request their help._

"The Cetra?" Aerith asked in astonishment. "You mean they're still here?"

_Not on this ship, no. I have not been in communication with the Cetra for several thousands of years. The battle with Jenova separated us long ago, but the Cetra still exist on this world, and in large quantity._

"Where?" Cloud asked, trying to keep a newfound sense of enthusiasm out of his voice. "How do we find them?"

With another wave, a map of the world appeared next to Ahziralirul. A red square blinked around a section of the inner continent, causing it to enlarge. This process repeated until an image of a red and orange stoned canyon was visible.

_My monitoring systems show a high concentration of full blood Cetra in this area. They have been there for several hundred years. There was a second colony at one point, but it ceased to exist approximately two hundred years ago. If you wish to defeat Jenova, it would be wise for you to go to them._

"Let us hope that the Highwind can be repaired swiftly, then." Vincent said.

_Ah, the flying vessel. I apologize, but it was I who caused your descent into the forest. I detected Cetra in my vicinity and used my defense network to bring your ship down and lure you here. I assure you, there is nothing wrong with your vessel. It will function properly when you return to it._

"In that case, we better go." Cloud said, looking to the others for approval. "If we can get to the Cetra and learn of a way to fight Rufus, this could change everything."

"I have a question before we go." Tifa spoke up.

_What is it, human named Tifa?_

"The water." Tifa pointed to the lake and the shapes at the bottom. "You seemed concerned about me touching it when you first showed yourself. What is it?"

_Ah. This lake was a burial ground for the Cetra who died during the voyage here. It was intended to be the place of rest for the warriors who fell in the fight with Jenova as well, but as I already explained, the Cetra never returned to me after their battle. Originally, the honored dead that were placed within these waters were to be returned to Ce one day, but as I can no longer lift off, it has become their permanent place of rest._

"Oh." Tifa said, looking down into the waters again with newfound respect and sadness. "I'm sorry to hear that."

_Your sympathy is greatly appreciated._

"We should go." Vincent said, interrupting the moment.

"Yeah." Cloud agreed. "Looks like we have a lot to do. Thank you, Ahziralirul. You've been a great help, I only wish there was something we could do in return."

_In fact, there is something you can do for me._

"Anything." Aerith spoke up. "Just say it."

_If you find the Cetra, please tell them I am still here. I do not wish them to forget about me._

"Of course." Cloud bowed his head in respect to the ephemeral being. "We'll make sure they know."

_Thank you. Now make haste, and be wary. I do not know what has transpired of the Cetra since my last contact with them so long ago, I can not possibly attempt to prepare you for what you can expect, or how they will greet you.

* * *

_

"They've been gone for far too long." Tseng said as he paced to and fro in the crew lounge of the Highwind. Jessie, Sherra, and Cid all sat on a couch at the west wall of the room. The trio were covered in grease, oil, cuts, and looked utterly miserable as they studied diagrams of the Highwind's infrastructure laid out on a table before them.. They'd been unable to find anything wrong with the ship, and as such they'd retreated to the lounge to brainstorm. Sephiroth sat alone on the other side of the lounge, acting calm and detached, as was the norm for him.

"I can't believe you let them go." Tseng continued.

"Do not question my decisions." Sephiroth said with animosity in his voice. "I'm not very fond of such things."

"I think Tseng has a point." Jessie offered, though she seemed to sink down into the couch when Sephiroth turned to glare at her. "There's no telling what they've found out there."

"A lot more than you'd think." Cloud said, as he stepped into the crew lounge, prompting everyone to look up as he and the other explorers filed in.

"Thank heavens you're all safe." Sherra said, putting a hand to her heart as if to stop it from leaping from her chest. "We were worried about you."

"What did you find?" Sephiroth inquired, ruining any possibility of a tender moment.

"A long abandoned Cetra city." Vincent said as if it wasn't impressive at all.

"A Cetra city?" Sephiroth asked, sounding both astounded and skeptical at once.

"That's what he said." Cloud snapped at the former General as he sat down in one of the chairs and ran hand over his face, indicating how tired he was. He was getting very sick of hearing that man's voice. "And we have a new destination; a canyon on the inner continent. There are apparently living Cetra there who may be able to help us find a way to defeat Rufus."

"How intriguing." Sephiroth muttered beneath his breath before shaking his head to them. "It will have to wait though. We need to rest, and gather supplies and intelligence for such a venture."

"I can't argue with you there." Cloud scowled at the silver-haired man for daring to make a smart suggestion.

"Great!" Tifa said, sounding suddenly cheerful. "I can't wait to get some good relaxation in. It feels like I haven't sat down in years!"

Almost as if cued by that remark, the ship trembled like it had been struck, causing the entire crew lounge to rock.

"What was that!" Aerith asked, looking shocked and afraid.

"I don't know." Tseng said as he reached inside his coat and withdrew his materia gun. "But we better find out."

"Get the ship ready to fly." Cloud sighed as he pulled himself from his momentarily comfy seat. "We might need to take off in a hurry."

"One problem there, kid." Cid snarled. "We're dead in the water, remember?"

"Oh that." Tifa remembered out loud. "Uhm, it should be fine now."

"Excuse me?" Cid hissed. "And just how the hell would you know that?"

"Long story." Cloud said as the ship shook once more. "We'll explain later. Just get it started while we check this out."

"Fine." Cid said as he grabbed Jessie and Sherra from their seats and began dragging them towards the bridge, pausing only long enough to flash his middle finger in Cloud's direction.

"What the hell is that man's problem?" Cloud questioned no one in particular after the pilot had left. "It's like he hates everybody."

"Ignore it, and let's go." Sephiroth said as he stepped past Cloud, prompting a dirty look from the blond. "Aerith, stay here."

"No, I can help." Aerith replied.

"You would only be a hindrance. Just stay here where you'll be safe and out of the way."

"I'm not as helpless as you think." Aerith said as she put on a stern and stubborn face. "And I want to help."

"Leave her alone." Cloud said as he glared at the former general. "Me and Tifa will make sure she stays out of harms way."

Sephiroth watched the younger soldier for a moment, looking as if he were about to either say something, or simply smack Cloud in the face, but in the end he merely shook his head and exited the lounge. The others followed suit and made their way to the exit ramp of the Highwind.

* * *

Coincidentally, the moment the party began to exit the ship and step into the forest, the ship ceased to shake, leaving only the lowly thrumming sound of the engines warming up. Staying close together, they carefully moved out further so they could get a better view of the ships body, hoping that they would discover a tree limb hitting the ship due to the wind.

As a searing red bullet of flame zipped through the air and detonated the ground at the center of their little group, that hope was thoroughly shattered. Steel cried out as their weapons were instantly drawn, all of them looking around frantically in the direction the attack had come from. Not wasting any time, their would be assassin revealed himself by dropping from a tree limb not more than twenty yards away, his red tail of hair and disheveled blue suit flapping quietly in the wind.

"Reno." Sephiroth identified him. "I should have known Rufus would send one of his dogs after us."

"Heh." Reno chuckled as he twirled the still smoking materia gun on his index finger. "And I shoulda known you wouldn't be smart enough to run while you had the chance. Guess that makes both of us wrong, huh?"

"Be careful." Tseng warned the others. "He's much more dangerous than he appears to be."

"Aww, shucks Tseng. You're going to embarrass me." Reno laughed as he put his free hand in his pants pocket and began to lazily stroll towards them. "Rufus is going to be pretty pissed when he finds out you were the traitor. It's funny really, I never took you for much of a revolutionary, what with you always being a little ----- who did whatever he was told."

"Don't let him get to you." Cloud said quietly. "He's just trying to shake us up, make us easier to target. We need to take him down fast, we may have a numbers advantage, but it would only take him a couple good shots to kill some of us."

"You guys strategizing over there?" Reno grinned like a mage in a materia store. "Guess I better be careful then, seeing as how you've got a has-been general on your side."

"Vincent, go left." Sephiroth muttered just loud enough for them to hear. "I'll take the right. He won't be able to get a shot at both of us before we reach him."

"What about us?" Tifa asked.

"Stay with the girl. Make sure he doesn't go after her instead. Remember, Rufus wants Holy from her."

"Good point." Tifa said, setting her jaw and stepping into a defensive position to the left of Cloud, with Aerith behind the two of them.

"Tseng, lay low and watch for an opening to snipe him." Sephiroth instructed.

"Right."

"Uh, oh," Reno snickered. "I wonder what you're gonna do?"

"Now!" Sephiroth snapped.

In unison, Sephiroth and Vincent darted in their respective directions and ran for Reno with the intent to kill. Reno, in turn, spun his materia gun once more before firing in Vincent's direction. With his abnormally high reflexes, Vincent had no trouble dodging the single fiery bullet, but the dodge slowed him down just long enough for Sephiroth to reach the Turk first. With an elegant swing of his katana, Sephiroth slashed at Reno's chest, an attack that generally ended in the death of whoever his opponent was.

Instead of dying though, Reno whipped an object out of the inner pocket of his suit coat. With a flick of his wrist the small, steel cylinder extended to triple its length and he used it to parry Sephiroth's sword. Then, with a touch of a button on the base of the metal rod, electricity surged through the touching metal and into Sephiroth's body. With a cry of pain, the general stumbled backwards.

Reno was laughing hysterically when, seconds later, Vincent arrived and swiped at the Turk with the heavy claws of his gauntlet. Reno ducked with ease, and then flipped backwards as Vincent swung with his gloved fist, again easily avoiding the attack. Taken back by Reno's speed, but still quite determined to tear him limb from limb, Vincent resumed his assault by spin kicking his right leg towards the Turks face. Reno spun to the side, avoiding the blow again. Vincent slashed out with his gauntlet once more and Reno flipped back, placing his hand on the ground and splitting his legs to avoid another swipe of Vincent's claws. Then, as Vincent punched hard towards his skull, he used his other hand to spring board himself into the air, somersaulting and landing a good five feet away.

By now, Sephiroth had recovered and was heading in for a second attack while Vincent roared in anger and frustration. Both he and Sephiroth reached Reno at the same time, and began their combined assault. Vincent swung high, Sephiroth slashed low. Reno leapt sideways into the air and managed to slide between both attacks at once. Sephiroth swung his sword horizontally up while Vincent spread his clawed fingers and dove for Reno's jugular. Reno ducked Vincent's hand, and then pushed his arm downwards, causing Sephiroth's katana to deflect off Vincent's gauntlet.

Cloud, Tifa, Tseng, and Aerith watched the acrobatic display in stunned silence. Despite Vincent's animal speed, and Sephiroth's agile finesse, Reno was able to dodge everything they threw at him, all while bouncing around like some sort of primate. In fact, Reno hadn't even tried to fight back yet. It was almost like he was toying with them.

"Can't you do something!" Cloud shouted to Aerith, who looked shocked at what she was seeing.

"Me?" Aerith broke from her daze. "Do what?"

"Holy!" Cloud said as he watched the battle continue. "When you used it in your village it had an effect on him, use it again!"

"Oh, right!" Aerith said, inwardly scolding herself for not thinking of it sooner. Bowing her head, she began to quietly utter her prayer that would draw out the power of the Holy orb entwined in her hair. Yet when she was finished, nothing happened.

"Why isn't it working?" Tifa mumbled nervously.

"I don't know!" Aerith exclaimed, clearly distressed. "This is only the third time I've ever tried to use it, I know almost nothing about it!"

"Well if we can't depend on that," Tifa grumbled. "Then I'm not going to stand around and watch this happen."

Realizing that the two men needed assistance in taking the dancing monkey down, she abandoned her defensive posture and headed into the fray. With her martial arts training and speed, she believed her added skills would surely cause Reno to falter. As Sephiroth and Vincent both attacked and were dodged once again, Tifa leapt into the air and brought her right foot down towards Reno in a flying kick while he was still unbalanced from the men's attacks. Rather than hit her target, Tifa landed in a crouch as Reno some how managed to roll forward and beneath her then come up just in time to leap up and over Vincent, then duck and roll to the right below Sephiroth's sword.

Seeing his chance, Tseng raised his materia gun high, steadying his aim and firing an ice charged bullet at Reno's forehead. Crouching low, the Turk avoided the bullet, which smacked into a tree further back and exploded in a wave of ice that covered the trunk. Not letting up, Tseng fired four more shots in rapid succession, each of them missing Reno by mere inches as he weaved in and out of the way. Then at long last it seemed that Reno's play time was over. While diving away from another of Tseng's blasts, he pulled the trigger of his own materia gun, sending a flaming bullet into Tseng's gun shoulder. A cry of pain was issued as Tseng was knocked back, but he switched his gun to his other hand and prepared to continue firing. Reno never gave him the opportunity, as he sent another shot into Tseng's upper arm, fully disabling him as he fell to the ground, clutching limply at his burning wounds.

"You guys are just too much." Reno cackled now that he had a little distance between himself and his opponents. "It's too bad I'm going to have to kill you all. This is pretty fun."

"I'll make you eat those words!" Vincent roared, his eyes narrowing as he ran forward.

Reno stood still until Vincent had swung, and then he moved like the wind, shifting to the right and letting Vincent fly by while he brought his knee up and into his gut. With a groan, Vincent went to his knees, but was back on his feet instantly, just in time to find Reno's shock rod rammed into his left cheek bone. With a snap-hiss that left the smell of burning flesh lingering in the air, Vincent flew back and landed in a temporarily immobile heap on the ground.

"No!" Tifa shouted as she moved into action next.

As she reached the Turk she jabbed hard with her right hand with just enough speed to grab Reno's wrist and twist the rod away from him. Rather than let her use his own weapon against him, Reno flipped straight into the air, his foot kicking her hand sharply and sending the weapon flying out of her grasp. As Tifa staggered back, Reno landed on his feet and held his left hand out into the air, letting the rod fall into his palm. Grinding her teeth out of anger and frustration, Tifa let out a series of left and right punches and jabs, aimed both high and low. Reno dodged or blocked each and every one of them with perfect timing until the skilled woman left just enough of a gap in her defenses for him to jerk his upper body forward, slamming the top of his skull into her chin and sending her tumbling to the ground.

Next up was Sephiroth, who came flying at Reno with a round house kick, followed by a lateral slash of the Masamune. Reno bent his knees and leaned his body back to avoid the kick, then brought his gun up, using the metal casing to deflect Sephiroth's sword. Undeterred by his failure, Sephiroth crouched low and swung hard, but missed, causing him to spin away from Reno. With his back turned, Sephiroth flipped the Masamune in his hand and stabbed it backwards as he pulled his smaller nodachi from his belt and spun to slash the shorter blade at Reno's face. Unfazed by the general's agility or formidable swordsmanship, Reno dodged and ducked before bringing the butt of his gun across Sephiroth's jaw, sending him sprawling away.

With three at least momentarily down, Reno turned his wicked grin and glimmering eyes towards Aerith and Cloud, who was still steadfast in his defensive pose in front of the girl. Letting loose a chuckle, Reno ducked low and ran towards the pair with his arms aimed behind him, weapons at the ready. Realizing they were now directly in danger, Aerith chanted a quick spell and raised a shield in Reno's way. Rather than slow down, the Turk ran headfirst into the shield, its magical field exploding like glass as he passed through it with ease. Aerith let out a small squeak of panic as she raised her hands up and launched several small fireballs at him, but Reno deflected each of them with his _palm_. Biting her lower lip in worry, Aerith wracked her brain for another strategy but found none. Her magic simply wasn't strong enough to make any difference in this battle.

Cloud wasn't fond of his chances against a man who'd already felled three of the toughest and most skilled warriors he'd ever seen, but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. As Aerith's spells failed to slow Reno down, Cloud curled his lips and narrowed his eyes. With a metallic ring, he brought his Buster Sword out of its sheath and held the heavy, cleaving blade in front of him with both hands on its long hilt. Reno began moving side to side, trying to throw him off, but Cloud stood firm, waiting to strike until the darting fool came into his range. Then, with one hard downward swing at just the right time, Cloud's Buster Sword struck Reno solidly on his right collar bone, shattering the man's bone and sending him to the ground; or at least, that's what it should have done.

Cloud stood, dumbfounded and with wide eyes as Reno's face inched closer to his. After a direct hit from his Buster Sword, Reno remained unharmed, even as the heavy blade lay against him where it should have crushed his upper torso. The bastard had let Cloud hit him on purpose, just to prove that it wouldn't be able to do any damage to him.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Reno snickered. "You can't beat me; Rufus gave me and Rude some of his power decades ago, when the three of us first found Jenova."

Cloud didn't know how to respond, nor could he. Three loud booms rang out, and he suddenly felt very cold. Reno's mouth continued to move, but for some reason he couldn't hear or, at least, understand the words the Turk was speaking. Confusion set in, and it seemed like the world had begun to slow down.

Aerith screamed as Reno blew smoke away from the barrel of his gun. Cloud Strife fell to the ground next to her in a patch of snow dyed red by his own blood; three scorched and gaping wounds in his chest.

* * *

Tifa had just managed to pull herself off the ground, her vision still blurry and her chin dripping with blood from a deep gash she now had there. Then her pain ceased to be as three loud booms rang through the snowy forest and she saw Cloud fall. She ran, staggering with tears streaming down her cheeks, towards the bastard who had shot the man she loved. She tried to kick him in the back, to make him feel physical pain that wouldn't possibly compare to what she now felt, but even that was denied. Reno was too fast for her before, and he was certainly too fast for her now.

As Reno side stepped the martial artist, she missed him and tripped herself up, falling to her stomach on top of her badly wounded friend. As she struggled up, she realized what had happened and looked down at the blood staining her shirt. Tifa's eyes went wide and she let out a panicked scream as she realized that the blood wasn't hers; it was Clouds. Her cry, and Reno's subsequent laughter was drowned out as the Highwind's engines ignited and the ship roared to life.

Aerith dropped to her knees, not wanting to believe that things had gone so terribly wrong in just a few short seconds. She knew she wasn't very strong in magic due to lack of proper training, but she placed her hands over Cloud's chest and chanted a low level cure spell nonetheless.

Sephiroth and Vincent had both climbed to their feet, and the latter was about to leap on Reno's back and tear his skull open before the former stopped him.

"Get the others on the ship and get out of here!" Sephiroth shouted at him above the roar of the airship.

"What?" Vincent asked in disbelief. "What about you?"

"I'll stay and keep Reno busy!" Sephiroth growled as he brought his sword up once more. "He won't let any of you escape if I don't!"

"But you can't beat him!" Vincent grabbed Sephiroth by the collar. "He will kill you!"

"We don't have time to argue!" Sephiroth yelled and pushed Vincent towards the others. "Go!"

Before Vincent could protest further, Sephiroth ran towards Reno, launching a ball of fire from his fingertips that exploded at the Turks feet and caused him to jump away from the others. Seeing a renewed threat from the former general, Reno turned and jumped at Sephiroth, swinging his shock rod at his sternum. Sephiroth narrowly dodged, and managed to catch Reno's left arm with the tip of his Masamune, though it did little good against him.

The short encounter had given the demonically fast Vincent just enough time to grab the two girls, the wounded Tseng, and the badly bleeding Cloud and herd them into the ship. To stop Reno from noticing, Sephiroth continued to take wild swings as the Highwind's boarding ramp retracted and the ship began to lift off the ground.

"No!" Reno shouted as he heard the change in noise and realized what was happening. He whirled around, raising his gun to fire at the ship, hoping to damage its engines and send it back to the ground.

"Brush off vanity, and show reality!" Sephiroth chanted quickly, his eyes burning bright. "Ultima!"

The air around Reno distorted instantly and a small pinpoint of blue light appeared on the Turk's chest that quickly exploded into a bright blue dome coursing with magical power. A shockwave from the attack kicked up snow and dirt at the base of the explosion and sent it flying into the air.

By the time the immense power of the spell began to fade, the Highwind was too high and moving much too fast for it to be in further danger. Sephiroth shielded his eyes from the flying particles and watched as the explosion died down to let him see that Reno was still standing. Ultima, the most powerful spell in all of black magic, had failed.

Though not nearly defeated, the spell had at least forced Reno to become defensive. Covering his human exterior was a glistening suit of ruby-red armor, thick but form fitting, almost as if it was another layer of skin. Sephiroth had just enough time to glance at the strange, red plating before it vanished. Reno resumed his usual smirk where a freakish and demonic mask had been seconds before.

"Ah." Sephiroth sounded calm as always, despite what he had just seen. "So you're the ruby one. I'd always wondered which one of you was which."

"You know?" Reno asked, genuine surprise in his voice. "How?"

"I know quite a lot."

"Well I'll be damned." Reno chuckled as he scratched his scalp through his hair. "Then I guess maybe you know that you can't beat me, huh?"

"So you say."

"Alright." Reno said, abruptly becoming annoyed with the situation. "Let's get this over with. I'm tired of this ----."

With incredible speed, Reno ran straight at Sephiroth with his gun firing. All the while the shadow warrior's lips were forming a smirk as if he was privy to an incredible secret that Reno had no knowledge of.

* * *

**Additional Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

Just in case anyone is having a difficult time picturing the way I redesigned the Cetra (or in this case, a holographic entity taking the appearance of a Cetra) in my story, try to imagine the Mithra from Final Fantasy XI, except with long elf ears that have fur on the tips. Another good example of what I was going for is Aisha from Outlaw Star. Kind of cat-like, but still fully humanoid, and not all furry.


	8. Chapter VIII Wounded

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

xxxXhIkAmIXxxx asked whether AR would follow a Cloud and Tifa, or Cloud and Aerith relationship path. For all my readers who are wondering about this, I'd just like to say….it's a secret!

Now that has started up forums, I've made one for AR! You can find a link to it in my profile here on the site.

Check back next weekend for chapter IX.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or send them directly to me. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter VIII

Wounded

High above the main level of the never sleeping city of Midgar, Rufus Shinra sat in his office at the top of the Shinra Imperial Government Tower. His posture was sloppy, but not without its own unique form of style as he slumped slightly to the left. His chin rested in the palm of his left hand, propped up on the edge of his desk while his right hand was extended outwards, a champagne glass dangling between his index and middle fingers. He was vaguely aware of the sultry brunette woman massaging his shoulders, as well as the blond one who sat on the floor to his right, anticipating the honor to serve him should he ask for her. It was hardly the women's fault that he wasn't paying attention to them, they certainly were dressed and willing to please. No one would deny that they were beautiful beyond belief, but the events of late were of too great importance to be forgotten by something as simple as lust.

The heavy double doors of the office swung smoothly open on well oiled hinges, and in stepped Reno, prompting Rufus to break out of his stupor. With a snap of his fingers and a motion towards the door, he dismissed his two playthings, who pouted as they made their way out of the chamber, closing the doors behind them as they left.

"Where have you been?" Rufus said as calmly as he could, but no manner of acting could hide the anger seething there. "It has been two weeks. I sent Rude looking for you, but I had to call him back to deal with some pests in the desert."

"Yeah." Reno said as he scratched at his head and continued walking towards the throne. "Sorry 'bout that. Ran into some trouble."

"What happened? Did you find them?"

"Well, yeah." Reno said. "Found them pretty fast, actually."

"So then, what took you so long?"

"Well, things got complicated. They uh, got away."

"You let them escape!" Rufus shouted as he stood from his chair and slammed his fist down into the surface of the elegant desk.

"Settle down, boss." Reno said, raising his hands up. "Sephiroth distracted me; hit me with Ultima while they got away. I managed to track them down though, that's what took me so long."

"And? Where are they?"

"They're in Wutai." Reno looked disappointed. "I couldn't get to them there. Way too much work and it would've blown my cover. That's why I didn't contact you, I was afraid they might be able to pick up the signal."

"Well, next time take the risk." Rufus sighed and sank back into his chair, his forehead wrinkling as he thought the situation over.

"Come on, man. Don't let it get you down." Reno said, trying to soften the problem. "We've had delays before. It's just a set back; at least we do know where to find Holy now. That's a big improvement from what we used to know."

"But they know about Holy now as well, and that's dangerous." Rufus bit out.

"Well, yeah. I guess so." Reno admitted. "Look, they aren't going to get to you or anything. I'll head back to Wutai and watch them, sooner or later they'll leave and when they do we'll plan an attack. They probably don't even know what the damn thing really is, anyway."

"Yes, you do that." Rufus muttered, clearly not consoled by Reno's words.

"Will do." Reno said as he gave a lazy salute and turned to leave before remembering something and stopping in mid step. "Oh, I almost forgot!"

"What now?" Rufus groaned.

"Naw, it's a good thing this time." Reno chuckled as he reached into his coat and pulled out a thin metal object that he tossed to the ground at Rufus' feet. "A little present for you, you know, to make up for not catching them all."

"Well." Rufus said as he looked the item over. "At least that's one thing less to deal with. Thank you Reno, now hurry back. I want to hear from you as soon as they leave the country."

"Right." Reno said and marched out of the throne room.

Rufus let some of his tension drain out as he took a sip of his champagne and stared at the item lying on the floor. It was a belt buckle, no bigger than the size of a fist, marked with the Imperial insignia for General. Though there had been several different Generals who led the Holy Shinra Imperial Army over the decades, only one had ever owned the belt that buckle had belonged to. It was the former property of Sephiroth Kagemusha, and it was spattered in blood.

* * *

Light began to filter in through the darkness, and slowly the blur began to fade. Cloud blinked his eyes as the unfamiliar ceiling above him came into focus; not much to look at, really, just dull white. 

"Welcome back." A soft voice swam into his ears.

Right away he knew that something wasn't quite right with him; he was disoriented and couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, or even from whom it was. It wasn't until a warm hand touched his cheek and guided his eyes to its owner that he began to piece things together.

"Don't tell me you're shy." Aerith said of his silence, her pink lips forming a friendly smile. "You don't seem the type."

Cloud's mind was moving slowly, causing him to delay in his response which turned out to be nothing more than an open mouth and small cough.

"Oh, don't try to talk." Aerith said, putting her fingertips to his mouth as concern washed over her. "I was only joking with you. You should conserve your strength. You were badly injured."

The expression on Cloud's face spoke for him; he couldn't recall what had happened that had put him in this predicament, so Aerith decided to explain it to him.

"There was a fight outside of the Cetra ruins four weeks ago; a Turk named Reno attacked us." She said. "You were shot in the chest three times; you were in very bad condition."

As she spoke, her words seemed to unlock the memories of that fateful battle. The intense speed at which Reno had moved, and the ease at which he'd defeated them all.

"What happened?" He managed to whisper, though his throat felt hot and gummy.

"After you fell, Sephiroth attacked Reno and distracted him as the rest of us escaped." Her eyes fell to the bed he was lying on. "He stayed behind to stop Reno from catching up to us. We haven't heard from him since then."

Cloud found it difficult to wrap his mind around the possibility that Sephiroth was dead. The man may have been a cold hearted, homicidal maniac, but he was also one of the most powerful warriors to have ever lived. Although, when he thought about the way Reno had fought, and if it was true that Rufus had given him part of his power, then it wasn't completely far fetched. Despite the circumstances, Cloud couldn't help but feel angry that he hadn't been the one to kill the silver-haired bastard.

"Where are we?" Cloud asked, the words coming out a bit easier now, though his throat still hurt from the effort.

"Wutai." Aerith explained. "Tseng and Jessie felt this would be the safest place to go to just in case Reno followed, and we needed to get you to a proper healer or doctor quickly anyway. I did the best I could at healing you in the meantime, but my training isn't that extensive."

"Are the others okay?" He asked as he recalled the fierce and frustrating battle.

"Oh yes." Aerith said, her smile returning. "You and Tseng were the only two who were badly injured, and your wounds were far more severe than his. The others were worried for your life, but I knew you would pull through. Your spirit is strong, and was fighting hard."

Cloud began to say something, but was interrupted by a string of harsh coughs that had him holding his heart by the time they began to subside. Worried for his health, Aerith leaned over him and placed her hands on his chest, chanting a light healing spell that calmed him as her brunette locks dangled over his skin.

"You should rest." Aerith said as she finished her spell and sat back in her chair some. "You're still not very strong."

Cloud nodded without trying to speak again. There was nothing to dispute; he didn't need to be told how bad he looked to know he was weak. Breathing steadily, he let himself sink down into the bed and drift off to sleep as Aerith ran her hand through his hair to soothe him.

* * *

In the streets of Sector Six in the grand city of Midgar, a single man dressed in a tattered trench coat walked towards a small, run-down bar. His identity was mostly concealed by the blue scarf that covered his lower face. Hanging low over his eyes was an old cap that looked like something a newsboy would wear. As the man entered the "establishment", he glanced around at the patrons; all dead-beats and low-life scum. They were just the kind of people he would expect of a place like this. 

Without further delay, the poorly dressed man walked to a patched up booth in the back corner that was tucked away from the rest of the crowd. There, seated at the table, was another man dressed in similar clothing.

"Can I help you?" Said the man at the table as he looked up towards the newcomer.

"I think we can help each other." He responded and pulled his scarf down just long enough to briefly reveal his identity. Upon a nod from the man at the table, Reeves slid down into the booth across from him.

"You certainly took your time getting here." Said Lieutenant General Zahn as he scratched at his wrist and did his best to sit in an informal manner. He hated playing this dress up game, but they couldn't risk anyone recognizing them and reporting their meeting to Rufus now that he had returned to Midgar. "What do you have for me?"

"It seems your gamble paid off." Reeves spoke quietly. "Not only did Cloud join forces with Sephiroth, and release Valentine, but they also managed to steal the Holy orb right out from under Rufus' nose."

"Excellent." Zahn smirked from behind the high rising collar of his coat. "I read a report that the XGP was stolen from the Rocket base. Was that them as well?"

Reeves nodded. "I learned that Tseng was sending them intelligence on it, so I assumed a theft was underway. I contacted Cid and prepared him."

"So everything is going according to plan. Now that Sephiroth has his team assembled, he'll likely begin exacting his revenge on Rufus."

"Well," Reeves hesitated. "There is one complication."

"Oh?"

"From what I've been told, Sephiroth is dead."

"He's what?" Zahn asked in a harsh whisper as his eyes narrowed. "Are you certain?"

"Apparently Reno fought him. He brought some trinket back to Rufus as proof of the deed."

"Damn." Zahn cursed. Reno was completely loyal to Rufus. If the Turk claimed he had killed Sephiroth, then it was safe to assume he was telling the truth. "What about Corel?"

Reeves lowered his eyes and shook his head. "Without Sephiroth to sustain the barrier, the city was spotted immediately. Rude was dispatched, I don't know more than that."

"Is Cloud there?" Zahn asked, feeling a knot building in his stomach.

"No. He and his companions were with Sephiroth when Reno attacked them, but they escaped. They're in Wutai right now. I'm expecting to hear something from Colonel Miyama there about what's happening with them any day now. Hopefully we'll get a clearer picture after that."

"Then all we can do now is wait." Zahn looked Reeves in the eyes. "Let's just hope that Strife is as good a replacement for Sephiroth as Hojo built him to be."

* * *

With one last click of metal locking together, Jessie finished repairing the materia gun that Vincent had owned when he was a Turk long ago. Back in Corel there had always been something that about the design that had eluded her. Thanks to Tseng, that had changed. After begging him for days to let her borrow it, she'd been able to use his fully functional gun as a guide to help her complete Vincent's. In fact, she'd taken it beyond its original design and added a few new tricks. 

Were it not for her busy schedule since they'd arrived here in Wutai, she would have finished the gun much sooner. Unfortunately, between meeting Wutai officials and helping Cid and Sherra complete the remaining unfinished systems aboard the Highwind, she'd had little time to sleep, let alone do anything for herself of her friends. Now that her project was completed and she was beaming with pride, the young engineer tidied herself up and set out to find the weapons elusive owner.

It wasn't exactly an easy task. The Wutai military base they found themselves in had been constructed in the side of a mountain to keep it hidden, and the area was still very alien to her. Not only that, but Vincent had been even more detached from the others than he used to be; not an easy thing to accomplish, by any definition. Her search eventually came to an end at a balcony that had been built out over a deep drop in the mountainside. Jessie's breath was taken away as she took in the view. Evening was fading into night, and the sun was slowly dipping down over the mountain range, spilling red and pink light across the clouds and rock. Vincent Valentine watched the sunset as well, crouched down on top of the safety railing as no sane human would be.

"It's beautiful." Jessie said as she came up alongside of him.

"Is it?" Vincent asked, sounding genuinely unsure. He didn't seem at all surprised by her arrival, but with his enhanced abilities, he'd probably heard her coming long before she'd spoke.

"Of course it is." Jessie replied. "Sunsets always are."

"I remember thinking such things long ago." Vincent said quietly. "But I can't recall the emotion itself. I can't feel the joy that it should bring me. Just another thing that Hojo stole from me."

"Are you really sure he did?" She asked quietly. She shied back when Vincent turned to glare at her, but continued anyway. She'd already started, so she might as well finish speaking her mind. "I know you think that's what happened, but maybe you're wrong. It might be rare, but you do show emotion from time to time. Maybe you were just alone for so long that you forgot how to use them."

For a long time Vincent simply stared at her, and Jessie began to worry that he was going to maul her for daring to voice such an opinion. Then at long last, he let out a quiet grunt and looked back towards the sunset.

"You have a kind heart." Vincent quietly said at last. "But I have lacked feeling for so long that even if such things were still buried within me, how would I even know how to find them? I look at this sunset, this thing of so-called beauty, and I feel nothing. To me it only means that my vengeance has evaded me for one more day."

"You can't expect things to just change overnight, Vincent. You've been this way for so long, it'll take time for it to come back to you."

Vincent said nothing.

"I mean, you can take things slowly. You know? Maybe one day you'll wake up and realize that it feels nice out, or-"

"Why do you care?" Vincent interrupted her, turning his head to stare at her with unblinking eyes.

"What?" Jessie asked, thrown off guard by the suddenness of his question.

"The others, they appreciate me for my power. They think of me as an ally, a weapon and little more. Yet you are different. You show interest in my wellbeing beyond my ability to fight. Why?"

"Well, I-well, you know," Jessie stammered.

"Now you're becoming nervous, but not out of fear that I could tear you apart. This too is different from the others."

"It's just-" Jessie sighed and paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I feel bad for you. I used to think I was bad off, but when you told us about the things you'd suffered at the hands of the Empire, I don't know, it just really got to me."

"I do not want your compassion." Vincent said, but there was no anger behind his words. It was just a simple statement. "You don't need to pity me."

"I know that." Jessie said. "But it's more than that, okay?"

"What more is there?"

She sighed again; this was becoming an exercise in patience that she hadn't been prepared for.

"Look, you were once a passionate man." She said, recalling his stories of Lucrecia. "You risked your life for some one you cared about, and I think that caring man is still in there."

"I am not a man any longer. I am merely a monster, born and bred for destruction."

"You're not a monster, Vincent." She said sternly. "People might treat you that way, and you might see yourself that way, but you're not. Hojo did terrible things to you, but there's still a human being inside of you. After all you've been through; you deserve the chance to live a normal life again."

"A normal life." Vincent scoffed and looked back towards the sun. "That is something I can never have."

"Yes, it is." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at her with an odd expression on his face. "The person you once were is still in there, just waiting to come out. All you need to do is try and bring him back."

"And how would I do that?" Vincent asked. "I am nothing but a killer. All I desire is revenge; it is the only thing that drives me."

"Then be something more than that." She said, her eyes pleading with him. "Be a friend."

"A friend?" Vincent repeated. "I have no one to befriend."

"You have me." Jessie said softly. "I tried my best to sever my emotions after the Empire killed my parents, but I've realized by now that it was a terrible way to live. I don't want to see you live that way. Let me help you."

"You-" Vincent stopped, his feminine brows furrowing in confusion. "You would do this? You would treat me as a human?"

"I already do, Vincent." Jessie smiled. "You've just been so busy thinking it was strange behavior that you didn't notice it."

Vincent looked away, staring back into the mountains as total confusion ran through him. No one had treated him as any more than a monster in decades. Now faced with some one who some how saw that he might be more than that, he simply didn't know how to respond.

"Oh, I forgot what I came here for." Jessie said just to break the uncomfortable silence.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the gun and extended it towards him. Vincent glanced to it before lifting it, running his right hand over its smooth surface.

"It's good as new." She said cheerfully. "Actually, better than new. I made some nifty modifications to it that I think you'll like. Since these guns are powered by materia, the bullets they fire are always charged by the element of the materia being used. So I added this little button here; press that and the materia inside switches! I put lightning, fire, and ice into it, that's all I could manage to fit."

"Impressive." Vincent said as he studied his rebuilt weapon by turning it over in his hands. He went silent again for a time before he finally spoke. "Thank you, Jessie, for a great many things."

"Anytime." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Look, I need to get some sleep, so I'll leave you alone now. See you tomorrow."

Without another word, Jessie walked back into the base. Turning his head, Vincent watched her go, and continued to stare until long after she was out of sight. After quite a bit of time had passed, he looked back to the gun in his hand before slipping it into his belt and raising his eyes back to the sun that was now nothing more than a silver on the horizon. Though he didn't quite understand it, something inside of him felt different now.

"Beautiful." Vincent said at the fading sun, and then he began to quietly and genuinely laugh.

* * *

Beads of sweat dripped down Tifa's cheeks, dampening her simple karate gi as she pounded her fists and feet into a black punching bag over and over again, the sounds of impact reverberating through the Wutai base's training center. Any time she hadn't spent sleeping, eating, or sitting with Cloud had been used up here. Though she was determined to further hone her skills after her part in the humiliating battle with Reno, her martial arts were also a form of mental therapy for her. Through her disciplined routine, she could achieve tranquility and shed away the terrible burdens that continued to mount on her shoulders from day to day in this world turned mad. In some ways, it was the only thing keeping her from losing her mind. 

With one last volley of attacks against the defenseless bag, she decided to end this session. She was sweaty, she was worn out, and as a result of the two, she was in desperate need of a nice, hot bath. With her teeth she unstrapped one of her gloves, then used her free hand to undo the other and let them both fall to the floor. Stepping off the padded mat that surrounded the punching bag she'd been assaulting, she walked barefoot to the doors that led to the main hall of the base, the concrete beneath her cold to the touch.

Tifa reached for the doorknob, and was nearly hit in the face as it opened from the outside, swinging towards her as Aerith stepped inside.

"Goodness!" The other girl exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Tifa said, her voice a little strained from her exercises. "It didn't hit me. Coming to practice your magic some more?"

"Yes." Aerith said, giving a half hearted smile. "I'm afraid I'm still not very good."

"Really?" Tifa raised a brow. "I hear rumors that you're learning alarmingly fast."

"Oh." She said, looking shocked. "I suppose I could be. No one in my village was ever formally trained in magic, so I don't really have any one else's learning speed to compare to."

"You probably learn faster because you're half Cetra." Tifa pointed out the obvious. "They're supposed to be great with magic, and all that."

"Perhaps so." Aerith said, though she didn't seem to really be giving it much thought. "So where are you headed?"

"I've gotta go take a bath." Tifa laughed. "Otherwise I'm not going to smell very good here in a little while."

"Ah, I see. I thought you might be going to see Cloud."

"I visited earlier today." Tifa said, feeling a sudden knot in her stomach over the subject at hand. "He was sleeping though, so I didn't want to wake him up."

"Yes, he sleeps quite a bit, but I suppose that's to be expected after how badly hurt he was."

"Yeah." Tifa said, her brows creasing slightly. "Well, I guess I should be going. I don't want to keep you from your training anyway."

"Oh, alright then." Aerith said cheerfully, and bowed her head to the other girl. "Have a good day."

As Tifa bowed her head in kind, Aerith stepped past her and headed towards the spell casting area of the training room. Tifa took one step towards the still open door before sighing and turning back, walking swiftly to catch up to her.

"Hey, Aerith, hang on a second."

"Mm?" Aerith stopped and looked to her.

"Listen." Tifa chewed on her bottom lip as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "There's something I need to ask you."

"Go right ahead." Aerith smiled.

"Okay." Tifa said, trying not to let the other girl's perpetual happiness bother her too much. After a brief pause to formulate the words to her question, she continued. "Why are you spending so much time visiting Cloud? I think you're there with him even more than I am, and I've known him all my life."

"He was injured trying to protect me." Aerith said with confusion in her otherwise melodious voice. "If he hadn't been there, I might be dead now. I owe it to him to make sure he's doing well."

"Is that the only reason?" Tifa asked, her voice getting a little softer.

"Well," Aerith paused, her eyes moving to the ground. "No, not really. I feel…strange when I'm around him. I feel that there is a bond between us. I truly enjoy his company; being with him tends to take my mind off of what happened to my village."

"So, you like him?" Tifa felt a lump in her throat, and a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, yes." Aerith said, smiling. "Very much so. I'm very happy to have met him."

"I see." Tifa said quietly, avoiding eye contact with Aerith.

"Is something the matter?" She asked, looking worried. "You seem upset."

"No, no I'm fine. I have to go now, thanks for talking with me." Tifa quickly said, and before Aerith could really respond she turned and headed out of the training room.

Tifa moved swiftly through the base until she came to the quarters that had been given to her when they had arrived. Stepping inside, she shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it. In the week since Cloud had regained his consciousness, she'd visited him often, sometimes arriving when Aerith was already there. Cloud had seemed so happy to have the other girl around, and it had worried her some. Now, after speaking to Aerith, she wasn't sure what to think. Were they just simple friends and she was merely reading too much into it? Or was there a spark of something more between Cloud and this flower girl?

"Damn it." Tifa whispered and leaned her head back against the door. "I'm losing him, and I never even had him to begin with."

* * *

With a ting of metal on glass, the last of Cloud's food was gone, and he leaned back against the pillows propping him up in his bed. It had only been two weeks since he'd come to and learned that they were in the Wutai Republic, but thanks to the military doctors, and the help of many healing spells, he was almost fully recovered. Aerith, who sat in her usual spot next to him, smiled and pulled the tray of food away from him as he finished. 

"It's good that you have a healthy appetite." She said.

"Yeah. Well, it'd take more than a few bullets to stop me from eating. Even if this military hospital stuff tastes terrible."

"It's good that you still have a sense of humor as well." Aerith giggled.

With a deep breath, Cloud sank back into his pillows and relaxed his muscles. It wasn't often he had time to lay around and do nothing, and he knew that would change as soon as he was well, so he'd take advantage of it as much as he could until then.

"May I ask you something?"

Cloud looked to Aerith to see concern on her face. "Yeah. Sure, what's on your mind?"

"It's something I've neglected to bring up before." Aerith admitted. "When you first woke up, and I was here with you, I felt conflicting emotions inside of you. I haven't been able to figure out the reason, so I was hoping you could help me understand."

"Oh." Cloud now looked somewhat uncomfortable himself. "Well, it's complicated."

"I have time, if you'd like to share it."

He looked her straight in the eyes for a long while, searching them as he decided whether or not to discuss the matter. He wasn't the kind to talk about his internal issues, and that had resulted in a lot of pent up feelings over the years. Yet, there was something about Aerith that relaxed him. Whatever the reason, he felt like talking to her might not be such a bad idea.

"Alright." He said at last, sighing quietly as he readied his explanation. "Do you know about what happened to my hometown?"

"Nibelheim, wasn't it?" Aerith asked. "Yes, Tifa told me about it. I'm sorry, it must have been awful."

"Yeah." Cloud said, looking at the sheets as he spoke. "But it wasn't just the murders alone. It was the betrayal. I'd joined the army because I idolized Sephiroth and all that he stood for. I wanted to be able to be strong and help people like he did."

"And then he destroyed your home." Aerith said quietly, understanding how such a thing must have felt.

"Yeah, but the worst part of it was that I couldn't stop him. I just keep thinking that if I'd been a little stronger, maybe I could have beaten him before he killed everyone. I can't shake the feeling that it's all my fault."

"You mustn't think that." Aerith said. "You tried your best, and that's all you can do."

"Maybe." Cloud said, though he didn't sound all that convinced. "Anyway, after I came back from Nibelheim, I devoted myself to the army more than I ever had before. I'd failed to save my home, so I decided to do everything I could to stop things like that from ever happening again."

"You wished to make amends?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I thought, maybe if I did enough good, it'd make up for my failure there. It didn't really help me feel better though. It wasn't until I met Zach that things began to change. I hadn't really had a friend since Nibelheim. I mean, Tifa was still with me in Midgar, but I avoided her a lot. I guess I was afraid she would bring up what had happened. When I met Zach, though, we became good friends pretty quickly. He's the one who got me to really start talking to Tifa again, and the three of us were always together from then on."

Cloud sighed, his forehead creasing as the painful memories began surfacing. "I was happy then. Finally starting to live again, and then we got involved in this because I had to go and stick my nose somewhere it didn't belong."

"But if you hadn't then you'd still be serving the Empire." Aerith said. "You'd still believe the lies about Rufus."

"Yeah. But Zach would still be alive too. I don't know if that was a great trade off, all things considered."

"From what Tifa has told me of him, I don't believe he would want you to be thinking things like that, Cloud."

"Maybe not, but I can't help it." Cloud breathed out heavily. "Ever since he died we've been on the run, discovering worse and worse things as we go. The entire world is in danger of being ruled by some demon possessed maniac, and all I can think of is how it's affecting me."

"It's human nature to fear for yourself and those you care about." Aerith said, trying to encourage him. "You should not punish yourself for feeling such things."

"I guess. It's just, so many things about it seem to relate directly to me, and it's really messing with my head. I mean, we were working with the man who slaughtered my entire hometown."

"Yes." Aerith said, her voice dropping low. "I can't imagine how that must have felt. I can't even think of how I would react if I was to need Rufus' help after what he did to Icicle."

"Yeah. And then I go and find out that I'm some damn monster that Hojo decided to whip up in an attempt to rebuild Sephiroth, that was great to learn. Oh, and not only that but I'm also part alien. And to top it all off, now I have a harder time handling things with Tifa because of the way she feels."

"I'm sorry?" Aerith said. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's nothing." Cloud said, waving his hand as he rubbed at his face. "That's a subject I really don't want to get into right now. It's hard to talk about."

"Oh, alright."

"What it all boils down to in the end is that, I just don't know what to do anymore. It feels like I'm just being pushed towards this inevitable conclusion, but I don't really have any control over my part in it. It's frustrating as hell."

"Well, I can certainly relate to you in that aspect." Aerith said, recalling how she too was forced into this conflict when Rufus came after her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I know I'm not the only one who's in on this thing."

"It's fine." Aerith assured him. "So what you're saying is that you'd rather be left out of this all?"

"No, not exactly." Cloud sighed. "Rufus needs to be taken down for all the things he's done. I want to be there to see him get what he deserves, and I honestly think I can help make a difference in that battle, whenever it comes. It's just that, it's all happening so fast. It was just a few months ago that I still thought Rufus was our savior, and now I'm trying to find a way to kill him. I just don't know if it will bring me any closure."

"Yes, you've been through much." Aerith said. "But you should take comfort in knowing that you're trying to accomplish something that may very well change the world for the better."

"That's what worries me. Rufus has been the sole guiding force for so much of the world for so long, I'm not sure what kind of impact taking him and his corruption out will have." Cloud said, voicing his final fear. "I just hope you're right."

* * *

With another two weeks passed, the entire party was fully recovered. Cloud had begun practicing his sword and magic skills once more, but it didn't seem as if he'd lost anything in transition. The Highwind had been completed, its multitude of systems now fully operational. For a brief time they'd all taken in the sights of the Wutai Republic. That was a culture shock, to be sure. Cut off from the rest of the world on this continent in the past, Wutai had developed their own style of architecture and philosophies about war and politics that the rest of the world simply couldn't understand. From the high rising pagodas to the bamboo sliding doors that offered absolutely no safety from the outside world, Wutai was like another planet, departed from what they'd all come to know as life in the Holy Shinra Empire. 

During their time here, they'd met a great many people. There were the indescribably polite civilians of the city closest to the military base, and also the honor-obsessed soldiers of the Wutai Army. There were scientists and technicians who were humble about the mighty airship fleets they'd assembled, and officers who treated them like seasoned members of the Wutai Army rather than newfound allies who had been their hated enemies not long ago. In fact, everyone they met had given them the utmost respect simply because they were outsiders who had chosen to stand against Rufus. They were practically treated as celebrities.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and on this world, those ends came rather swiftly. It was mid-afternoon when they were summoned to the officers meeting room of the military base, and the inevitable thought of returning to the fight left them all with mixed feelings. They arrived shortly thereafter, filing into the room and taking seats as they waited for their hosts to arrive.

They all wore their usual outfits, from Tifa's light blue, oriental top, to Jessie's dark green and gray combat clothing. The only one who looked different was Cloud, who had been given what was apparently a great honor from the Wutai military. Out of respect for the life threatening injuries he'd received by standing against Rufus, they'd offered him the ceremonial clothing of a modern day Wutai samurai. He was now clothed from head to toe in black. Though the pants, shirt, and iron breast plate cross strapped over his upper chest were fairly standard issue, the more ceremonial bits were unusual and eye catching. Around his waist was a thick leather belt, emblazoned on the front with Wutai symbols that apparently stood for courage, power, and wisdom. A tail extended from the sides and back of the belt that fell down to the tops of his many buckled boots. Over his shoulders was a pair of smooth black guards, long sleeves falling from their edges to his wrists. It was an impressive look, to put it simply.

The rag tag group sat in their seats around an oval table, leaving three seats open at the south end. From right to left there was Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Tseng, Vincent, Jessie, Sherra, and Cid; they were all anxious to find out what was on the agenda. Luckily, they weren't made to wait long as the door at the back of the room opened and two women stepped in. The first was clothed in a slick officer's suit all in pale green. Though her jacket, generously decorated with military medals, and her pants weren't exactly flattering to her form, it was clear that she was a thin and well built woman. She wore a cap on the top of her head that she took off and placed on the table as she sat down, revealing short blond hair that faded to black at the roots. Her deep brown eyes and pixie-like face gave the impression of youth and innocence, but it was clear from the stack of files she carried and the subtle look of authority on her face that she was no one to trifle with. Perhaps she was something of a prodigy?

With the apparently high ranking officer was a much more familiar olive-toned face; Yuffie, the young, tan and green clad assassin they'd met in the forest outside of Costa Del Sol nearly two months ago. Her mere presence concerned them all, as they'd come to understand that she was a secret operative for Wutai who rarely left her espionage and guard assignment on the inner continent.

The blond and brown haired officer cleared her throat as Yuffie took a seat, and it was time to begin.

"Thank you all for coming. My name is Colonel Ayu Miyama of the Wutai Special Operations branch. For those of you who haven't met her yet, this is Captain Yuffie Kasaragi, one of my best officers.

"Before we begin, I would like to thank each of you for putting your trust in us. As former civilians and soldiers of the Holy Shinra Empire, we know you were all taught to hate the Wutai Republic, and choosing to help us now speaks highly of your character.

"I feel it is time to set the record straight for those among you who may not fully know how the Wutai Republic fits into your ongoing fight against the Empire." Placing her files down on the table; she flipped the first manila folder open and began. "Wutai has known the truth about Rufus for some time now, or at least enough of it for us to not trust him.

"The ongoing war we are in with the Empire is in part due to this knowledge, though it is also true that we had no interest in surrendering our independence to join the Empire even before we knew of Rufus' true face. Over the years, we have had our fair share of battles with one another, but Rufus has always held the Empire back for fear of seeming too bloodthirsty to his followers.

"Fearing that this would one day change, and knowing that we had no way of outlasting the superior numbers of the Empire when that time came, we began seeking alternative methods to defeat the Empire and bring the war to a close.

"A little over four years ago we were contacted by the former General of the Holy Shinra Imperial Army, Sephiroth Kagemusha. Although we weren't entirely sure of putting our trust into a man who had recently left the Empire under such…unfortunate conditions, we felt it was a worthwhile risk."

Miyama flipped to another section of her files as she continued. "Our alliance with Sephiroth proved to be invaluable to us, as he was able to fill us in on many details about Rufus that we were unsure about. It became clear to us that we didn't have the power to defeat a man with the magical capacity that Rufus contained, and that's when a number of plans were begun.

"With Sephiroth's help, we laid the groundwork for spy networks that were previously unavailable to us. Using him to gather former Imperials who wanted to help defeat Rufus, we founded many small insurgency groups to cause internal turmoil for the Empire, weakening it and diverting attention away from our true plans."

"Like Avalanche?" Tifa interrupted, looking to Jessie, who nodded.

"Yes." Miyama confirmed. "Barret Wallace and his Avalanche team were one of the original groups. However, these groups had an ulterior motive; namely, to locate the second incarnation of the Omega Project, and to bring him to Sephiroth.

"It was his belief that he could find a way to defeat Rufus if he was able to work with Cloud, Vincent, and a few other choice soldiers who he hoped to discover as he went. I assume those to be the rest of you, as you're the primary men and women Sephiroth entrusted with his objectives. Now, that should bring you all up to speed on the alliance between the Wutai Republic and Sephiroth, so I will now turn this meeting over to Captain Kasaragi, who has more to share."

As Colonel Miyama took her seat, Yuffie rose from hers, looking around the table at familiar and new faces alike.

"As I'm sure you're aware, General Kagemusha has been missing since the confrontation with Reno that you were all a part in." Yuffie's face darkened. "Though I assume you suspect this already, I regret to inform you that we believe Sephiroth to be dead."

Yuffie paused to let this news sink in, but no one made a sound. As she had guessed, they had likely come to the same conclusion beforehand.

"Unfortunately, Sephiroth's death affects a great many things; the most important being the eventual attack on Rufus, and the well being of the Outlaw City of Corel."

"Oh no!" Jessie gasped as a sudden realization came to her. "You don't mean-"

"I'm afraid so." Yuffie nodded, her face twisting with mental anguish. "With Sephiroth gone, the magical barriers he'd put in place to hide Corel vanished as well. It didn't take more than a few days for the city to be spotted. The Empire organized their soldiers and invaded right away. By the time I arrived everyone was already dead or missing. We assume they took many as prisoners for interrogation and experimentation."

Again, no one said a word, but there was no need for anyone to speak. The looks on their faces, the hands over mouths, and the terrible silence spoke for them. They had all prepared themselves for the news of Sephiroth, but no one had thought about the consequences his death would have on others. An entire city of refugees who'd been hiding from the Empire for so long and all of them were dead or captured now.

Quietly, Yuffie returned to her seat as Miyama stood and resumed the briefing.

"With Sephiroth and Corel now lost, we are forced to rely on those of you gathered here. We've waited to bring this up with you until you had all recuperated, but now that you're all healed, there's no more time to waste. Who is in charge of your party?"

All eyes seemed to gravitate towards Cloud who, for better or worse, had been the primary leader of their little adventures since the beginning.

"I guess that's me." Cloud said, taking the hint from the others.

"You were apparently the team that Sephiroth was prepping to take with him to defeat Rufus. Our agreement with Sephiroth was that we would supply him with resources during his preparation, and then when he was ready he and his team would attack Rufus' tower while we assaulted Midgar city itself to distract the Imperial forces from the fight with the Emperor." Miyama said, now directing her attention to Cloud. "We must know if this plan still has merit, and if you can continue without him."

Cloud looked around at the others to see if they wanted to chip in on the answer, but they seemed to trust him with their opinions, so he answered on his own. "There's still much we don't know about what Sephiroth was up to. We have Aerith and her Holy orb in our possession, and we know that if has an effect on Rufus, but we don't really know why yet."

"I see." Miyama said, sounding demoralized.

"But," Cloud continued. "Before Reno attacked us we learned of the location of a large group of living Cetra and possibly more weapons to use against Rufus. We'd like to go there and try to discover more about Rufus and the Cetra. I think we may be able to uncover the means to stop him there."

"Excellent." A guarded smile crept back onto Miyama's face as this news brightened her outlook on their increasingly perilous situation. "If you can pick up where Sephiroth left off and find a way to defeat Rufus, we will transfer our alliance with him to you."

"Good." Cloud said. "We should probably head out right away, if that's all right."

"Of course." Miyama nodded. "The resources of the Wutai Republic are at your disposal."

"Well, we'll need a means of transportation." Cloud said.

"You already have the Highwind." Cid spat out. "And you can be damn sure there isn't anything here that's better than her."

"I didn't want to speak for you, Cid," Cloud explained. "We don't know what we're going to be getting in to."

"Don't give me that ----." Cid growled. "Look, you busted me and Sherra out. I owe you, the Highwind's yours until you don't need her anymore."

"Okay." Cloud grinned at the older man. "Thanks, pops."

"----in' little.." The rest of Cid's response was lost in a mumble.

"I will see to it that your airship is well supplied." Miyama told them.

"Great." Cloud nodded approvingly. "Then there's only one other thing I need to ask you."

"What's that?"

"You said Wutai planned to attack Midgar to let Sephiroth go after Rufus undetected." Cloud repeated what she'd mentioned earlier. "We need you to be ready to launch that attack. I don't know what we're going to learn from the Cetra, but if we do obtain a means of fighting Rufus, we should use it right away. Hit him hard and fast before he has the chance to find out what we're planning."

"I understand." Miyama nodded. "I'll begin preparing an attack right away. We've been waiting a long time for this, so you can believe that we'll be ready quickly."

"In that case, we should get started." Cloud said.

"Indeed." Miyama nodded to Yuffie, who stood and walked out of the room, apparently to start preparations for the possible operation. "Your ship will be stocked within the hour. I suggest you all gather what you need and be ready at that time."

* * *

Reno, alert as ever, lay on his back with his arms folded behind his head on a patch of grass in the mountains of Wutai. So long as he didn't actually make a scene, they wouldn't notice his presence, and as the sunglasses over his eyes and the fedora pulled low over his brow proved, he certainly wasn't out to draw attention to himself. 

It had been a couple weeks since Rufus had sent him back here to watch for Cloud's little team of rebels to leave the Wutai, and he'd basically been sitting here on his ass ever since. It wasn't like he was going to complain though; he didn't often get the chance to be one hundred percent lazy; it was usually closer to seventy-five.

A sound interrupted his little nap, causing him to yawn and stretch his arms out as he pushed his hat up and looked around. It was a low and distant hum, mostly indistinguishable from any one of a hundred similar sounds, but he knew exactly what this one belonged to. Sitting up, he looked north towards the Wutai military base that Cloud's merry little band had entered and watched as the Highwind rose smoothly from its hangar and began to turn east.

Any normal person wouldn't be able to tell whether or not it was just the Highwind, or the entire group of asshats he was after, but he was hardly normal. The Jenova power within him resonated as if calling out to the diluted dose of Jenova inside of Cloud. Clearly, the spiky-headed blond was on board that ship.

Reaching into the pocket of his suit coat, Reno withdrew a radio and flipped a switch that connected him to Rude, who was now back in Midgar with Rufus.

"Hey, Rude, old buddy." Reno said into the device. "Just giving you a heads-up, the dick-squad just left Wutai heading east. I'm going to follow after them and see what they're up to."

"Understood." Rude said, his voice coming through with only a small amount of static. "I'll inform Rufus of the news."

"You do that." Reno said, grinning as he did so. "When I find out where they're going I'll give you another buzz so you can come join the party."

"I'd appreciate that." Rude said in his typical bored fashion. "Until then."

"Don't go and get excited or nothing, pal." Reno sarcastically spoke to the air as he flipped the switch back off and returned the radio into his coat.

Standing up, Reno stretched once more and then headed out to follow the Highwind. They'd escaped from him once before, but this time they wouldn't be so lucky.


	9. Chapter IX All Downhill From Here

**Author's Notes **

**-------------------- **

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

My homepage has been updated with thefourth pieces of AR artwork since last week, be sure to check it out if you enjoy the story!

Check back next weekend for chapter X.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or send them directly to me. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Merry Christmas everyone!

- Luminus

* * *

Chapter IX

All Downhill From Here

The Highwind soared over seemingly endless stretches of barren, red stone. The rocky region where Ahziralirul had told them to search for the Cetra seemed almost totally devoid of life aside from the occasional lizard or cactus in the otherwise dull and winding canyons of lifeless stone. They'd been flying over the area for hours now and were beginning to question the validity of this hidden Cetra civilization when Vincent spotted lights. Upon closer inspection, it seemed as if a city had been carved out of a large section of the canyon wall, making it nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the landscape. Opting for a cautious approach, the Highwind had turned back and landed several miles away, beyond a curve in the canyon which would hide the great ship from prying eyes.

For this stretch of the journey, Aerith had been obvious choices, as she had Cetra blood. Cloud, Tifa, Tseng, and Vincent made up the rest of the party, as Cid, Sherra, and Jessie once again remained on the Highwind where they were generally the most use. Those who were venturing out had outfitted themselves as travelers, concealing their weapons beneath dirty brown mantles or cloaks; there was no sense in getting the Cetra worried when they were coming in peace.

The closer they came to the series of lights that marked the civilization on the canyon wall, the more they could make out the city itself. Many of the buildings had been hollowed out of the rock walls. Others were huts secured to the cliff by beams of steel and wood. The area of the canyon where the city was constructed was composed of three major platforms, each a little smaller than the last, giving it the appearance of giant stair steps. The major portions of the city were constructed upon the flat surface of each 'step', and each of these levels was connected by ladders, ramps, natural paths, and tunnels. The strangest thing was the size of the city; there were only a few dozen buildings, hardly enough to support an entire race.

As they neared they came across a long and apparently natural ramp that led up to the first level of the city and began walking on it. There were torches lit along the edges of the ramp and they could hear the sounds of music drifting down. As they reached the top they spotted a large bonfire at the center of the city's lowest level where a dozen or so figures were gathered, their appearances obscured by the dancing flames.

They were about to walk towards the fire, which seemed to be some sort of gathering place, when a sound came from Cloud's left. Reflexively his hand went to the hilt of his Buster Sword beneath his mantle as he turned to have a look. Halfway expecting some sort of sneak attack, he was instead greeted by a boy who looked perfectly human.

The boy was dressed in clothing of a somewhat tribal nature; leather and coarse materials formed tunics and sashes colored in earthy tones. His wrists and ankles were wrapped in thick bracelets that looked to be made of bronze. On his feet he wore wooden sandals, held in place by leather straps. Red tattoos were present on his upper arms as well as two thick dashes under each of his bright orange eyes. The boy's hair was red at the roots, but faded to orange at the tips. It was styled high and spiky in the front and tied into two thick braids that hung low over his shoulders in the back. Around his forehead he wore a headband that sported two long, white feathers that stuck up high behind each of his ears. The finishing touch was a bright white smile on his face that was in stark contrast to his tanned skin; he couldn't be older than fifteen or sixteen at the most.

"Greetings travelers!" The boy said with enthusiasm and a strange accent. "Welcome! Our home is always open to those who pass by!"

"Thanks." Cloud said, glancing to the others to see if they were as confused as he was. This boy certainly didn't look like he'd come to expect the Cetra to. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you tell us where we are? We noticed your lights, but your city isn't listed on our maps."

"Forgive me for not informing you sooner, sir." The boy bowed his head to them, spreading his arms in an apparent sign of respect. "We are small, and not worthy of documentation, but our hospitality is offered nonetheless. This is Cosmo Canyon, and I will be happy to guide you to a place where you can rest."

"That's very kind of you." Cloud said, returning the boys bowing gesture to him. "I'm Cloud Strife, and this is Tifa, Tseng, Aerith, and Vincent. May I ask your name?"

"I am called Nanaki." The boy said, his smile never fading. "And it is a pleasure to meet you all."

* * *

After their introductions had been exchanged, Nanaki motioned behind him with a sweeping gesture of both hands and then began walking, prompting the party to follow him. Stepping up along side of Cloud, Tifa nudged him with her elbow and nodded towards the boy. Even without words, Cloud knew exactly what it was she wanted him to do.

"Nice little place you have here." Cloud said, attempting to spark a conversation.

"We are quite content with it, yes."

"Do you often get visitors through these parts?"

"No, but it's not entirely uncommon for wanderers to wind up here." Nanaki said, looking over his shoulder to Cloud. "Speaking of which, what brings you and your friends into this region?"

"Just exploring really." Cloud lied. "A friend of ours named Ahziralirul thought we would find this area interesting."

They were just passing by the bonfire where many men, women, and children were gathered when he spoke the name of the spirit being they'd encountered in the long abandoned Cetra ship. Cloud carefully watched the faces of the people gathered near them, noticing quite a few had turned to look at them with great interest.

"Ahziralirul?" Nanaki repeated, though his voice was guarded enough to not give away his thoughts. "That's an unusual name. Do you know its heritage?"

"Oh, I'm not sure." He lied again. "It sounds almost alien though, doesn't it?"

"Indeed." Nanaki replied, glancing towards the people staring at them from the bonfire who seemed to quickly mind their own business when they realized he was looking at them.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about the name, would you?" Cloud prompted.

Nanaki did not respond. They were nearing a wooden door built over a cave entrance on the canyon wall when the young boy made a series of strange noises that sounded like a mixture of purrs and clicks of his tongue. When he reached the door, he did not open it, and instead turned and raised a dagger to Cloud's throat. The action had been so fast that Cloud barely had time to register what was happening before it was too late. Sounds came from the shadows around them, and they found themselves surrounded by men and women of varying ages brandishing all sorts of weapons. All of the warriors had red tattoos similar to Nanaki's.

"We have not lived in peace and secrecy for so long by taking unnecessary chances, human." Nanaki said, the cheerful voice he had offered them earlier gone, replaced by cold and malice. "Now you will tell me all that you know of the Cetra."

"We're not here to cause trouble." Tifa said as she raised her hands up chest high to show she was unarmed, not that it really mattered with her fighting style.

"Then you have failed miserably." Nanaki growled. "Now speak. I have little patience for this."

"We've come seeking your knowledge and assistance." Vincent said. "We are enemies of the Emperor, Rufus Shinra; of Jenova."

The mention of those two names had an instant effect on the boy, though whether it was good or bad was difficult to tell.

"What do you know of Jenova?" He asked cautiously. "And how do you know the name of Ahziralirul?"

"We spoke with her." Aerith quietly spoke. "In the Frozen North, we stumbled across the vessel the Cetra used to travel to this world."

"She told us to seek you out." Tseng added.

"I find that rather hard to believe." Nanaki scoffed.

"It's the truth." Cloud said, remaining calm despite the dagger at his throat.

"And why should I trust the word of outsiders?"

"Aerith is half Cetra." Tifa pleaded. "She wouldn't lie to you."

"Do not insult me, woman." Nanaki growled. "I already sensed her heritage, and that makes my trust in you wane further. Partial bloods like her are the reason we were driven into hiding."

"I don't understand." Aerith said as her forehead creased. "Why would you not trust your own kind?"

"Of course you don't understand." Nanaki's lips curled. "It is the nature of humans to forget the things they have done wrong, otherwise they could not live with themselves."

"Nanaki." One of the other tattooed warriors spoke up and motioned towards the back of Aerith's head. Her voice was tinged with an emotion they couldn't quite place. Fear? Or perhaps reverence? "You must see this."

"What is it?" Nanaki asked, looking to Aerith.

"May I?" She asked, realizing that they were referring to Holy, which was again tied into the ribbon in her hair.

Nanaki didn't look pleased about the idea, but for some reason he didn't seem all that compelled to argue against it. With a nod of his head, he gave her his endorsement and Aerith pulled the ribbon from her hair. As her long brunette locks fell down her back, she brought her hands in front of her bosom, the white orb of Holy nestled in her palms.

"That!" Nanaki's breath caught in his throat. "Where did you get this?"

"It was my mother's." She explained. "She entrusted it to me many years ago."

The emergence of the Holy orb had drawn an even larger crowd of onlookers who had come from the fire as well as the wall buildings of the city to see what was happening. Murmurs began spreading through the growing crowd like wildfire, prompting Nanaki to signal two of his warriors to push them back.

"The Warriors of the Red Moon do not require your assistance!" Nanaki bit out, instantly causing some of the crowd to disperse. "Go about your business!"

"You know what that is, don't you?" Cloud asked.

"Of course I do." He whispered, still staring at the white sphere in Aerith's hands.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Tifa asked.

Broken from the trance like effect that Holy seemed to have him in, Nanaki looked to Tifa as if he had forgotten she was there.

"This matter is now vastly complicated." The boy said at last. "We will take you to the Elder. He will know what must be done."

* * *

Reno stood on one of the many ridges in this strange. The setting of the sun behind him silhouetted his form, giving him a dark and sinister appearance that fit him rather well. From here, he watched as several of his targets entered a city that he'd had no knowledge of until now. He saw what appeared to be a brief argument and standoff between the inhabitants of this hidden city and the rebels before they were taken inside of one of the city's many caves. A beep then came from his jacket and he reached inside to withdraw his radio. Flipping it on, he raised it to his mouth.

"Reno." He said into it.

"What's your status?" Rude's voice came through the speaker. "It's been several days since your last report."

"Funny you should ask." Reno chuckled as he pressed another button on the radio. "I was just about to call you. I've tracked the Highwind to a canyon on the inner continent, I just sent you the location. Several of our little freedom fighters, including the girl from Icicle, went inside a city here."

"A city?" Rude's voice came back skeptically as he received the coordinates from the locator that Reno had activated on his radio. "There are no charted settlements in that region."

"Yeah, I know. I have a really weird feeling about this place, too."

"What's our next move, then?"

"Let's see." Reno said, deliberating on their options. "I'd say we end this here and now, with all the brute force we can muster."

"What do you suggest?"

"Come here yourself." Reno told him. "And bring two squads of Mako Demons. I want to wipe this place out so that our maps are correct again."

"That's a lot of firepower for a small city."

"Can't ever be too careful." Reno snickered. "Tell the boss to have a party waiting for us when we get back to Midgar. We'll bring him their heads as gifts."

* * *

One thing about Cosmo Canyon had bothered Cloud from the moment he'd laid eyes on it. If Ahziralirul had been right, and the Cetra had been living here for generations, why was it so small? It seemed to him that their population would be much greater than the miniscule size of the city would allow. Now, after at least fifteen minutes of travel, that particular mystery had been solved.

The structures on the canyon wall were actually little more than a disguise to mask the truth from travelers who occasionally passed by and saw some of Cosmo Canyon's inhabitants wandering around. The actual city, and the vast majority of its population, was hidden away within catacombs that extended deep and far beneath the surface. Since they'd first entered one of the passages that led to the true city, they had walked down countless tunnels, winding left and right past stores, homes, and hundreds of people. In fact, they had turned down so many different paths that it would be nearly impossible for them to find their way back on their own. It was likely the Cetra had intentionally burrowed it out as a kind of labyrinth to confuse outsiders who happened to stumble inside.

As they delved into the depths, the plain red rock began to give way to a livelier palette of greens and blues. Oddly enough, the deeper they went the wider the caves became and the more the place felt and looked like a normal city. There were people everywhere, working, shopping, and going about perfectly normal lives.

Turning down another pathway, something unexpected occurred. As they stepped through a shimmering field that coated the air before them, a transformation occurred in Nanaki, the warriors guarding them on all sides, and all the civilians they could see. Any doubts that these people were the Cetra Ahziralirul had sent them to search for were wiped away as their human guises faded away to reveal their true forms. They had taken on the distinctly feline appearances that Ahziralirul had used when they'd met her. Nanaki's eyes changed to resemble those of an animal. His pupils had turned to slits, though the orange color remained intact. Both of his ears had elongated and were somewhat furry at the tips. His nose had turned into a light brown and slightly damp nub. The most striking feature, and one they hadn't noticed on the thickly robed Ahziralirul, was the long but thin tail that protruded from the base of his spine and ended in a fiery red tuft.

"We've passed beyond a magical barrier set up to hide our true appearances." The cat-like boy explained to them as he noticed their shock at the sudden change. "We have the ability to use magic to change our physical appearances, but it takes a high amount of concentration. In order to remain hidden, we created machines that emit a field around our city that disguises us so that we don't have to worry about it."

"Must be handy." Tseng said. "That helps explain why Rufus hasn't found this place."

"Yes, and we'd prefer to keep it that way." Nanaki turned his head and growled at the former Turk, showing sharp fangs that hadn't been there earlier. "Most humans who show interest in our city like you have are killed straight away."

"Were you going to kill us before you saw Holy?" Vincent asked.

"We still might." Nanaki snarled, effectively ending the conversation as they continued walking.

It wasn't long after the Cetra's transformation that they approached another cave entrance, this one draped with large curtains colored red and yellow and guarded by two more Cetra warriors with red tattoos. Nanaki bowed his head to each of the guards, who stepped aside and raised the curtains for them. As they entered the large and generally circular room, they noticed that the walls were carved with murals showing what appeared to be the Cetra's history. Tifa recognized one of the murals in particular that depicted the Cetra's vast star ship.

In the center of the room, seated on a large and beautiful chair sculpted of rock, sat an elderly Cetra man who looked to them as they entered. His wrinkled scalp was devoid of hair, but a long white beard hung from his face down to the middle of his chest. Thick glasses were situated over his eyes, and he sat atop a series of pillows, his lower body hidden by a thick quilted blanket.

"Come in, children." He said, his voice shaky and his accent far heavier than the others. Raising one frail looking hand, he motioned for them to move closer. "I am Bugenhagen, Elder of Cosmo Canyon and of the Cetra, and we have much to discuss."

* * *

With his head lowered, Nanaki walked quietly to the old Cetra man and knelt before him. The others were herded into the center of the round room by the rest of the Cetra guards, who then bowed their heads as well.

"Elder, these people have come to us disguised as travelers." He explained. "They know of the Cetra, and spoke of our ancient ship and its caretaker."

"I know of what transpired, Nanaki." Bugenhagen told him.

"Then you know that this partial blood girl has the legendary Holy with her." Nanaki said, looking up to him though he remained on his knees. "How is this possible?"

"Aerith, come here." Bugenhagen said, smiling as he waved to her with his outstretched hand. "I must speak with you."

"How do you know my name?" Aerith asked with confusion on her face as she stepped up to him, prompting Nanaki to stand and face her in what seemed to be a reflexive defense of his Elder.

"The lifestream tells me much, young one." Bugenhagen chuckled quietly. "There is a great deal about you and your companions that I know. Some that you may not even know yourself."

"Elder?" Now it was Nanaki who sounded confused as he turned to look at Bugenhagen. "You had a vision of these people?"

"Yes, Nanaki." The elder Cetra nodded. "You may send your warriors away. We are in no danger from these children."

Though Nanaki still looked unsure, he instantly turned and motioned for the guards to leave the room. Apparently, Bugenhagen's wisdom was unquestioned by the young boy.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Bugenhagen chuckled to himself. "Please, all of you sit. Your legs must be tired."

Happily obliging the Elder Cetra's offer, Cloud, Tifa, and Tseng lowered themselves to the stone floor. After a moment of being indifferent to the situation, Vincent joined them only out of respect for Bugenhagen. Aerith and Nanaki remained standing.

"May I?" Bugenhagen asked Aerith as he reached towards the Holy orb still nestled in her hands.

"Of course." She said, but there was much uncertainty in her voice. Lifting her hands up, she offered the Holy orb to the Elder, who took it very carefully. The old Cetra held it almost lovingly as he gazed at it in wonder.

"I never thought I would actually see this." Bugenhagen said, his voice filled with awe. "Children, do you know what this is?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, actually." Cloud said.

"Yes." Aerith nodded. "My mother gave it to me, but she never explained what it was."

"Elder, do you think it wise to tell our past and secrets to strangers?" Nanaki questioned with concern on his face.

"They are not our enemies, Nanaki." Bugenhagen soothed him. "Trust in my judgment and the will of the lifestream, as you have done in the past."

"Very well, Elder." Nanaki said, bowing his head in a sign of respect.

"I apologize for my grandson." Bugenhagen said to them. "Do not judge him harshly. His father, Seto, was killed by outsiders. Though he distrusts you, he does so only out of his desire to keep our people safe. As our War Chief, he has demonstrated great wisdom and strength, even if sometimes prejudiced."

"War Chief?" Tifa asked before she could stop herself. She promptly placed her hands over her mouth as a result.

"Yes, I am the thirteenth to lead our Red Moon warriors." Nanaki said with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Why does this surprise you?"

"I'm sorry." Tifa said sincerely. "It's just that you look so young."

"We Cetra age much slower than humans." Nanaki said, some of his attitude fading as he realized she didn't know any better.

"Yes." Bugenhagen nodded. "A trait not shared even with partial-bloods. Though our brain develops at a similar rate to yours, our physical aging slows down rapidly once we mature. Nanaki may look young to your eyes, but he is forty-eight years old."

"Oh." Tifa said as she looked to Nanaki in surprise. She couldn't really think of a better response to that. "My apologies then, I didn't mean to offend you."

"I am not offended, human." Nanaki said. Tifa didn't take the conversation any further, figuring that it was probably the most acceptance that she was likely to receive from him.

"Children." Bugenhagen said, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "Tell me, what did you learn from Ahziralirul?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." Cloud spoke up. "We learned of why the Cetra came to this world, but beyond that she didn't have much information."

"Yes, much has happened since we left her." Bugenhagen said.

"Well, she did mention these things called Atma Weapons." Tifa added helpfully. "She said you built them to fight Jenova."

"Ah, yes. When we Cetra warriors left our world to pursue the Greater Demon, we took with us many weapons such as these." The elder explained. "But none of them as unique as the magical orbs; Holy and Chaos."

"Holy?" Aerith asked. "You mean, _my_ Holy?"

"Indeed." Bugenhagen nodded. "You see, we had never encountered a creature so great and powerful as Jenova. Though we were able to drive it from our planet with the Atma Weapons, we feared that they would not be enough to destroy it."

"The greatest sorcerers and scientists of our world conspired together to create two magical orbs." Nanaki added. "They were designed to call upon the lifestream of any planet we were on."

"Hold on, what is this lifestream you keep mentioning?" Tseng interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of it before."

"Ah, of course." Bugenhagen chuckled. "Knowledge of the lifestream is commonplace among our people, but you humans refer to it as mako."

"You mean the same mako that's used by the Empire?" Tseng asked in confusion.

"Yes, but it is far more than a simple source of energy as you humans believe Allow me to explain; the lifestream is a force that all planets with living organisms contain." The elder told them. "It is, in essence, the blood and soul of the planet itself."

"I'm not sure I follow." Cloud said as the elders words went over his head.

"Well, when a living organism on a planet dies, its soul returns to the planet and becomes a part of the lifestream." Bugenhagen explained again, this time more thoroughly. "So you see, the lifestream is a large collection of souls that have not yet been given a new birth.

"So, when some one or something dies," Tifa thought over the strange idea out loud. "It becomes part of this lifestream thing, and is eventually reincarnated?"

"Yes. As such, the lifestream is also a source of all knowledge of the planets past, and that of its one time inhabitants."

"That's what mako is?" Tseng sounded startled. "You mean they're sucking _souls_ out of the planets crust and using it to build monsters!"

"I am afraid it's even worse than that." Bugenhagen sighed. "I do not wish to know what horrible things lay in the minds of those creatures that your Emperor manufactures as demons."

"That's terrible!" Aerith gasped as she raised her hands to her mouth.

Cloud's eyes went wide as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, if the lifestream is mako, then what does that make the materia? We use that stuff for magic and to power a lot of our technology, please tell me that those aren't souls too!"

"Do not fear," Bugenhagen smiled faintly as he raised his hand in a calming gesture. "The lifestream is a source of great power, as the soul retains the mental and magical strength of the deceased. When the soul leaves the lifestream to be reincarnated as another organism, its power stays behind and crystallizes into the stones you call materia. They are merely the memories and abilities of life forms from long ago. That is why they sometimes contain such powerful magic."

Cloud breathed a sigh of relief at that. The use of materia was commonplace in the world. Even he used it occasionally. He certainly didn't want to think that people across the planet were using the souls of the dead as light bulbs or ammunition.

"This is fascinating." Tseng said, thinking about what he'd just heard. "And the Cetra are able to use this lifestream you speak of?"

"We cannot _use_ it." Nanaki said. "We are simply able to communicate with it. It allows us to search through knowledge to come to a better understanding of the natural and spiritual order of the world."

"That's amazing." Tifa said, obviously impressed.

"It is a wonderful gift." Bugenhagen nodded. "Through the lifestream we can learn of the past, and some of us may even obtain glimpses into the future."

"And Holy uses this lifestream as an attack of some sort?" Cloud asked.

"Yes." Bugenhagen confirmed. "When used against Jenova, it channels the lifestream into an attack that strikes at Jenova's soul, temporarily sapping her strength so that her defenses will weaken enough for a traditional assault."

"So that's it!" Cloud said as the elder's explanation answered another question that he'd had ever since Aerith had first used Holy when they met her. "That's why I was able to wound Rufus in Icicle! Holy was affecting him!"

"Yes. By using Holy, our physical and energy based weapons became more effective against Jenova. Without it, they did little to no damage to the creature." Bugenhagen said. "When we tracked Jenova to this planet, we landed and immediately assaulted the Greater Demon. Our battles against it lasted for months, but the use of Holy and our Atma Weapons eventually felled it."

"But if you defeated Jenova," Vincent asked, his tone cryptic and skeptical. "Then why does Rufus have access to its power now?"

"That is where things begin to become complicated." Bugenhagen said with a sad smile. "You see, we had assumed that when Jenova was destroyed, its soul would be absorbed into this planet's lifestream where it would be cleansed, and eventually reincarnated into new and harmless beings."

"But you were wrong?" Tifa asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. We had never encountered a creature such as Jenova, and it did not follow the laws that govern all life we had seen thus far. Even after death, its soul refused to become one with the lifestream. At the time, we feared that its soul would eventually find a way to regain physical form, and threaten the world again."

"Well, why couldn't you just use Holy on it again?" Tifa asked as it seemed like the logical choice.

"Holy was damaged during the battle." Bugenhagen said as he lifted Aerith's Holy orb up and rotated it for them all to see. There was a tiny hairline fracture running along its glassy surface that they hadn't noticed before.

"That little crack?" Aerith asked in shock at the damage that she'd always taken for granted.

"Yes. Though it appears so insignificant, that miniscule damage caused a great deal of Holy's power to fade away. It is now much weaker than it was designed to be and can take days or even months to recharge, depending on how much of its power is used. At the time, it would have taken years for it to be strong enough to damage the Greater Demon again."

"So what happened to Jenova then?" Cloud asked as he looked at Holy, wondering if it would be of any use to them against Rufus in its condition.

"The soul of Jenova was sealed away." Nanaki answered. "Our most powerful mages created wards around it and shut it inside of a temple on the eastern continent; in a place you now call Midgar."

"Midgar?" Tseng repeated in astonishment. "Would that be the reason Rufus built the city there?"

"An interesting theory." Vincent nodded as the thought came to him as well. "He did build Midgar of his own accord, and only after he'd attained his so called godhood."

"You think he made it his capital so he could study the ruins or something?" Tifa asked.

"It is possible. There were many Cetra devices and spells used in the construction of that temple." Bugenhagen sighed. "I would hate to think that they are now being used against the people of this world."

"What happened next, elder?" Cloud asked.

"After our long battles with Jenova had come to an end, this world had been laid to waste." Bugenhagen told them. "When the temple was erected and Jenova's soul was sealed, our leaders made the decision to remain here on this world to safeguard Jenova and fulfill our mission."

"Why didn't you return to your ship and stay with Ahziralirul?" Tseng inquired.

"We had lost our bearings many times over during the battles with Jenova, and no longer knew where to find her." Bugenhagen shook his head. "Though it would not have been an impossible task to seek her out, our leaders decided that staying with Ahziralirul would make the desire to leave this world and return to our home planet too great to resist."

"So you chose not to look so that you wouldn't be tempted to abandon your mission." Vincent simplified the elders explanation while nodding his head in respect for the ancient Cetra's commitment.

"Many of us headed out into the world to help heal nature, and to aid the humans in rebuilding their civilization, which had been badly shattered by Jenova's presence." Bugenhagen said. "A large number of us also stayed at the temple along with one of the remaining Atma Weapons and the recharging Holy orb in case Jenova ever escaped her confinement."

"For many generations, we Cetra lived among your kind in peace and prosperity." Nanaki picked up where the Elder left off. "Some even bred with humans, which resulted in partial-bloods like the two of you."

"So what happened?" Tifa asked. "Why are you hiding now?"

"Around one thousand years ago, some humans began to fear our powers." Bugenhagen told them. "They worried that as our numbers grew, we would one day take their place as the dominant species of this planet. Through lies and deceit, they were able to convince many of your kind to believe in them.

"A war between Humans and Cetra broke out, and our kind was far too scattered to truly put up a fight. Many of us were wiped out in a matter of days, still more in the coming months. The attacks were led by partial-bloods that used their strong magical abilities to destroy us in order to gain favor with the rest of humanity so that they too would not be hunted down."

"That's terrible" Aerith said, sadness sweeping her face. "We had no idea."

"It is a tragedy long forgotten by your race." Bugenhagen shook his head. "Survivors from all over the world managed to gather together, and that is how this city came to be. We fled here to hide ourselves in a place where no human would wish to live, the barren rock of a desert."

"We lost contact with the temple where Jenova was sealed over the next few hundred years." Nanaki said. "But eventually we learned that the Cetra who had lived there had been wiped out as well. A few survivors made it to us here in Cosmo Canyon and told us that the Atma Weapon and Jenova's prison had been buried in the ruins of the temple. The Holy orb had been taken by a small band of Cetra who had fled from the human attackers, and were never heard from since then."

"My mother." Aerith whispered, holding her hands to her chest.

"Yes." Bugenhagen nodded. "The lifestream told me of Ilfana, and of you. She was the daughter of one of the few survivors at that temple, and she safeguarded Holy during her lifetime before passing it on to you."

"Elder," Cloud spoke up, determined to find out more about this other orb that Bugenhagen had mentioned. He recalled Sephiroth using its name in Icicle. "You spoke of another orb called Chaos, what was it?"

"We do not speak of it." Nanaki said, his voice stern.

"It's alright, Nanaki." Bugenhagen said with a sigh as he dropped his head. "The second orb that was created to fight Jenova was a terrible mistake made by our people. You must understand, the Greater Demon was a beast that had destroyed countless worlds, and would certainly continue doing so if it was not stopped."

"It was a failsafe?" Vincent asked, realizing where Bugenhagen was going with talk like that. "Some sort of last resort?"

"Yes, yes it was." Bugenhagen nodded. "Like Holy, Chaos taps into the lifestream, but it does so very differently. It summons the full might of the lifestream and converts its power and knowledge into a storm of death and destruction. As the storm expands across the world, killing all life in its wake, the souls of the dead are sent to the lifestream, causing Chaos to grow even more powerful."

"A weapon of annihilation that grows exponentially until all life on the world is eradicated." Nanaki said as he hung his head in shame at what his race had created. "One that even a creature such as Jenova could not possibly escape."

"Please do not judge us too harshly." Bugenhagen pleaded as a thick cloud of unease fell across the room. "We had no intention of using Chaos unless all other means of defeating Jenova failed us. We knew that Jenova would destroy this world if we could not stop it, so we felt the use of Chaos was justified if it would destroy the creature and prevent it from continuing its reign of death on other worlds."

"Where is this Chaos now?" Cloud asked as a terrible feeling crept up on him.

"It is safe." Nanaki said, clearly intent on keeping its location secret.

"Is it really?" Cloud snapped. "Rufus is searching for Holy and Chaos! That's the reason we met Aerith in the first place! If the Emperor gets a hold of a doomsday weapon like that, there's no hope for any of us!"

"Rufus commands a mere fraction of the power Jenova once held." Nanaki argued. "The temple we sealed the beast's soul into was designed to break it apart and force it to return to the lifestream over time. What Rufus found was merely the remains of the once powerful Greater Demon. So long as Chaos remains dormant, he will not be able to sense it."

"I'd still like to know where it is." Cloud said angrily. "Let's just say it's for my own peace of mind."

"Chaos and our remaining Atma Weapon are safely guarded within a second temple we constructed after the war with the humans ended." Bugenhagen interrupted the argument. "You will go there soon enough."

"What!" Nanaki yelped in surprise, turning to look at the Elder. "What are you saying?"

"Nanaki, you will take this man and his friends to the temple. There they can retrieve the Atma Weapon, so that they can fight against the Divine Emperor." Bugenhagen looked to Cloud. "This is what you desire, is it not?"

"Yes." Cloud sputtered, taken back by the suddenness of it all. "We came here hoping you could help us find a way to fight Rufus."

"And so we shall." Bugenhagen said.

"Elder, forgive my impertinence, but why are you entrusting these outsiders with such a thing?" Nanaki spoke quickly. "The Atma Weapon in our temple is the only weapon we have left."

"It is of no use to us if we simply leave it there to rot, Nanaki." Bugenhagen scolded him. "Trust in the will of the lifestream."

"And is this the will of the lifestream?" Nanaki angrily questioned. "To give one of our most prized possessions to a handful of humans and a partial-blood?"

"They wish to defeat Jenova." The elder said sternly. "We must help them."

"But how can you be so certain that they are being honest with us?" Nanaki pleaded. "What if this is a trick by the Empire to steal our weapons and learn the location of our city?"

"This one is bonded to the lifestream, Nanaki." Bugenhagen said quietly as he nodded towards Cloud.

"He is what?" The Cetra boy looked from Bugenhagen to Cloud with furrowed brows. "I do not understand."

"Neither do I." Cloud sounded completely confused. "What does that mean?"

"You are attuned to the lifestream in a way that surpasses even the Cetra." Bugenhagen said. "Your soul is eternally linked to it, which is where you draw your strength from."

"How's that?." Cloud asked with doubt in his voice.

"The lifestream flows through you just as blood does." Bugenhagen told him. "How was it that the Emperor made you to sense Holy and Chaos?"

"Well, he did a lot to me. Genetic experimentation, as well as exposure to raw mak—" Cloud broke off as it came to him all at once.

"I see that you understand. While the Emperor has many creatures that were made with processed mako, as you yourself said, you were exposed to it in its raw form. Because of this, unadulterated lifestream flows through your body. This is how you are able to sense Holy; it draws upon the lifestream for its power, and so it draws you to it."

"Was Sephiroth like that too?" Tifa wondered out loud. "Maybe that's why he was such a powerful black mage, Cloud. Maybe he knew more about the lifestream, so he was able to use it better?"

"It is possible." Bugenhagen nodded. "One who can delve into the lifestream's knowledge can summon great power through it."

"But what does that have to do with whether or not I'm trustworthy?" Cloud asked.

"As I have said before, we Cetra can traverse the knowledge of the lifestream." Bugenhagen explained. "As your very soul is attuned to it, you are incapable of hiding your intentions from one such as me when you are in my presence. In this way, I know that you truly mean to defeat Rufus."

"So you're really going to help us?" Tifa asked excitedly.

"It seems that we must." Nanaki spoke up, his attitude suddenly very different. "If the elder believes your intentions are pure, then I apologize for having such little trust in you before. I will take you to the temple and aid you in your quest."

"Great." Cloud said, though he was obviously taken back by the change in Nanaki's behavior towards them, as well as this weird lifestream business.

"I'd like to stay here." Aerith said, interrupting the conversation and prompting everyone to look to her. Turning to Bugenhagen, she placed her hands on her chest and bowed her head to him. "I want to learn more of my heritage, and of how to properly communicate with the lifestream."

"Are you sure?" Tifa asked, sounding concerned for the other girl. "I mean, will you be safe here and everything?"

"There is no place on this world safer for her than this city." Nanaki said, puffing his chest up proudly. "My Warriors of the Red Moon will see to her well being."

* * *

A tip of Reno's fedora greeted Rude as the other Jenova infused Turk arrived at the canyon. Rude wore a stern face and his eyes were hidden by his sun glasses as they always were. At least here in the desert there was a reason to be wearing them.

"The Mako Demons will be here soon." Rude told him as he stepped up on the ridge and looked out at the unusual city. "Are they still in there?"

"Yup." Reno replied. "Been a couple of hours at least."

"Seems that's about to change." Rude said, nodding towards the distant city. A small group of people were exiting one of the many cave mouths on the canyon wall and heading out of the city.

"That's them all right." Reno grinned. "Looks like you got here just in time for the fun to begin."

"Wait." Rude said, frowning as he squinted behind his shades at the tiny figures. "The girl isn't with them."

"Aerith?" Reno asked, looking perturbed. "Dammit, she's the one we're really after. She must still be inside."

"Why are they leaving her there? That doesn't make sense." Rude grumbled.

"Oh who cares?" Reno groaned. "As soon as our critters get here we'll go down there and dig her out."

"No, I don't like it." Rude shook his head. "They're up to something."

"Well, what do you want to do about it?"

Rude thought for a moment as he watched the group head further from the city, towards the Highwind which was barely visible beyond a curve in the canyon.

"I'll follow them." He said at last. "See where they're going, and take care of them myself when I find out."

"You sure that's a good idea man?"

"If the girl is still here then so is Holy." Rude pointed out. "Without that, they won't be able to put up much of a fight."

"True." Reno shrugged. "Alright. I'll wait until the make-believe demons get here, and then I can use them as a shield in case she uses it. We'll head in and take care of these people in no time."

The pair of Turks watched as the small party boarded the Highwind and the mighty ship took off and headed further east. With a final farewell, the two parted ways, Rude to take care of a long time nuisance, and Reno to stay and finally obtain the prize they'd sought after for so long.


	10. Chapter X Torn Apart

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for chapter XI.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Happy New Year!

Luminus

* * *

Chapter X

Torn Apart

Wind whipped at Cloud's face, forcing him to squint his eyes as he leapt off the Highwind's ramp and dropped roughly ten feet into thick grass. Nanaki, Tifa, Vincent, and Tseng followed shortly thereafter, and then the Highwind straightened and lifted back into the humid air. As it turned out, the temple that Nanaki was bringing them to was located on a small island off the eastern coast. It had taken them only a few short hours to reach it using the speed of the Highwind, but the thick jungles that covered nearly every inch of the isle had stopped the airship from landing. In light of this, they had opted to jump down in a small clearing at the base of the temple while the Highwind circled the island, waiting for them to return.

Cloud looked up at the great Cetra temple, a monument to another time. It was a pyramid of sand colored stone, constructed stair-step style all the way to the top where a single doorway marked the only visible entrance. The temple was surrounded by a pit at its base that had probably held water at some point in the past. Beyond the former moat was a high wall of the same stone the temple was constructed from.

During their trip, Nanaki had told them much of the old temple in the hopes of making up for the mistrust he'd showed in them at Cosmo Canyon. It had been constructed after the wars between the Cetra and humans broke out as a place to hide the only Atma Weapon they had left, as well as the dreaded Chaos orb. The Cetra had felt that it would be better to keep this temple isolated so that the two weapons hidden inside wouldn't be lost even if Cosmo Canyon was discovered.

"Be wary." Nanaki said, stepping past them he crossed a rickety old bridge that spanned the pit and started his ascension up the temple steps. Since leaving Cosmo Canyon, he had cast the spell that disguised him as a human boy over himself once again. "My ancestors designed this temple to keep intruders out. There are a number of tricks and challenges ahead that were created to put doubt and confusion in even the most courageous of souls. Do not let your eyes believe all that they see, and do not fear what seems impossible. I will lead you safely through."

"Why didn't you mention this part earlier?" Tifa asked, obviously irked at the sudden and unexpected news.

"I did not want to worry you beforehand." Nanaki said, his voice apologetic. "If you had dwelled on it our entire way here, you may have had second thoughts about going inside."

"Well, we wouldn't be doing this if we had any other choice." Cloud said. "We don't have the option of backing out."

"Of course." Nanaki said. "I meant no disrespect. I'm just not used to dealing with outsiders; we don't completely think the same."

"It's understandable." Vincent said quietly. "I still find it somewhat difficult to understand human reasoning, and I used to be one."

"Ah, yes." Nanaki said, his tone a bit off at that strange comment. Though he'd been told in detail about all of their unique stories that led them into this during their flight, Vincent's had made him the most uncomfortable. Perhaps because his death and resurrection into what he was now was the direct result of his love for a Cetra woman.

As they reached the dark temple entrance, Nanaki reached to his left and lifted an old looking torch from its holding place on the wall and lit it with the chant of a fire spell. During their trip here Nanaki had explained to them that, while their communications devices would work inside, a security measure was in place to stop any such signals from actually entering or leaving the temple. As a result, the only way for the Highwind to stay in contact with them would be for one person to stay here at the doorway to receive messages from them, and then step inside the entrance to signal the rest of the group within the temple. Fearing that his marksmanship may not help them in the cramped confines of a temple if they ran into any danger, Tseng had volunteered to stay outside.

"Are you prepared?" Nanaki asked the others as he looked to their faces in the hopes of discovering any doubt or fear they may have. He saw none, and the three adventurers all nodded for him to proceed.

"Good luck in there." Tseng spoke up as he extended his hand to shake Cloud's. "Make sure you don't die, alright?"

"I'll try." Cloud said with a wry smile as he returned the former Turks' hand shake and then turned back to Nanaki, who gave a single nod to them and then entered the temple.

* * *

During their trek inside they found themselves surrounded by walls so plain and devoid of style that it was almost disturbing. They were heading down at a rather steep slant, which was understandable as there wasn't much room for any chambers at the top of the pyramid structure. As the light from Nanaki's torch danced across the walls, shadows and patterns began to appear that didn't seem to have any real source. They formed sinister faces and devilish scenes that put them all on edge, expecting an evil creature to hop out of the wall at any moment and drag them to hell.

Not wasting any time, the party hurried along the creepy corridor until they spotted the end of the tunnel not far ahead, marked by another dark doorway. The moment they stepped through they found themselves in the middle of madness. Despite the doorway being pitch-black, the massive chamber it had opened into was brightly lit. Just from the sheer size of the place they now found themselves in, they instantly knew that something had to be wrong; it was far larger than the temple that it was inside of. Stranger still was that they appeared to be outside; they could see the sky above them and a bright sun even though they knew they were deep within a solid stone structure. The most off-putting part of it all though was the architecture of the room. Stone stairs and archways covered in vines and moss criss-crossed the chamber in the most illogical patterns any of them had ever seen. Each set of stairs and doors seemed to lead to nowhere and were commonly constructed in angles that made them seem utterly ridiculous. There were some sideways, or unbelievably, completely upside down and hanging in the open air as if the designers had wanted to laugh at gravity in the face. One look at the awkward room was enough to give them all headaches.

"Stay close to me." Nanaki said, noting their unease. "It is merely an illusion to confuse any intruders."

"Well, it's a damn good one." Cloud said as his eyes darted around the dreamlike room so much that he began to feel dizzy.

"It is perfectly safe, I assure you." Nanaki said as he began to step past them. "I will show you."

As the others continued to stare at the insane room, Nanaki descended a nearby staircase and walked through the archway at the end of it, vanishing from sight the moment he did so. Seconds ticked by and there was no sight of him, causing the trio to look around for him before they heard his voice call out to their left. Cloud was the first to spot him. Nanaki had just emerged from another doorway nearly fifty yards away. To cover that much distance so quickly, especially in this twisted room, was impossible; though not quite as impossible as the way he was standing upside down, with his feet firmly planted on stairs that were descending from the sky. In a continued effort to insult gravity, the boy's clothes and hair were kept perfectly in place rather than falling downwards towards the ground, as if he was still standing in a perfectly sane position.

"You see?" Nanaki called to them. "This entire room is just a complicated mirage. The path actually goes straight ahead without ever straying. Just follow closely behind me and ignore where or how you come out, and you'll be fine."

"How strange." Vincent said calmly, though even he didn't take the first step.

"Who cares, let's just go." Said Tifa. Muttering under her breath, she added. "This place is just creepy."

"Agreed." Cloud replied. "Let's get through this fast before we all get sick."

Tifa and Cloud took the first steps, Vincent following just behind them. They went down the stairs and through the door that Nanaki had first entered and immediately found themselves standing next to the Cetra boy.

"Do not look up or down." Said the warrior as he turned and began walking again. "It will only disorient you."

With only mildly sarcastic comments, the others followed. Nanaki led them up and down steps and in and out of doors. Despite his warnings, they often noticed that they were rarely standing on what should be the ground, but they managed to keep their stomachs in tact despite this minor problem.

At last they stepped through a final archway and found themselves on a small stone walkway that was suspended over a seemingly endless abyss. The only time the path changed at all was near the center where it widened greatly to make room for a large and simple looking fountain that was built there. Nanaki began walking down the path, his eyes fixated on the exit as the others followed behind. The closer they came to the bubbling waters of the fountain, the harder the Cetra seemed to concentrate on the path itself.

"Do not look into the water." Nanaki said as he continued to avert his eyes from the fountain. "And do not listen to what you will hear."

"Why not?" Tifa asked.

Just then the air became filled with sounds. Most of them were indistinct voices, but some things were brutally clear. The words Zach had spoken to Cloud and Tifa just before he died. Rufus' rant about godhood in Icicle when he'd killed that child. The party came to a halt, the haunting sounds resounding through their minds. Even Nanaki, who knew all there was to know about this temple, stopped dead in his tracks.

"We call it the Fountain of Nightmares." Nanaki told them. "The waters are enchanted, causing them to draw upon the saddest and most terrifying memories of any who come near it and display them in the water. It's also partially connected to the lifestream, and the enchantment uses this connection to attempt to show glimpses of the most terrible futures it can envision. There's no way to tell if they're accurate visions, or merely the fountain trying to make us see our worst fears."

Silence ensued as they took in Nanaki's words and tried to ignore another round of terrible memories. They heard Vincent's screams of rage as he was locked inside his would-be eternal coffin and Tifa's agony when she learned that Nibelheim had been burned to the ground leaving no survivors.

"Come." Nanaki spoke quietly, clearly disturbed as the dying words of his mother and father echoed through the chamber.

They all walked as quickly as they could down the horrible path, very carefully avoiding eye contact with the awful Fountain of Nightmares. As they reached the rooms exit, Cloud heard a voice that was somehow familiar, but different enough that he couldn't place it. The metallic ring of a melee weapon resounded through the chamber, followed by the pained scream of a young woman and a dark fit of laughter. They did their best to ignore it and put it from their mind, knowing it was just another Cetra trick.

* * *

Wisps of green light wrapped around Aerith's small form as she sat on her knees in the middle of Bugenhagen's audience chamber, her head bowed and her hands clasped over her breasts. Though her eyes were closed, she saw more now than she ever had before. The past, the present, the future, all entwined as one endless river that flowed through time on a course that rarely seemed to make any sense.

Bugenhagen had spoken with her at length about how to properly tap into and channel the lifestream through her mind. She had always had the ability to see glimpses of things that others could not, but they were never more than tiny insights, generally only of the people who were around her. Now, with only a few short lessons from the elder Cetra, she found herself swimming through the near limitless knowledge of the lifestream, her soul truly at peace for perhaps the first time ever.

In the short time that she'd been traversing the lifestream, she had been able to locate knowledge and memories of her departed parents. Aerith took comfort in studying them to come to a greater understanding of their love for her, and the events that led to them leaving her in Icicle.

Ilfana had been one of the few survivors from the Cetra who had lived at the temple where Jenova had been sealed away. Though she had been very young at the time, she had understood the importance of keeping Holy safe, and so she had taken it and fled. Unable to properly channel the lifestream at her age, she could not locate the rest of her species. Knowing that she was on her own for now, Ilfana had decided to hide Holy away, and then try to seek out the Cetra's lost starship. Traveling to the Frozen North, she buried Holy and began her lonely quest.

Many decades of searching proved futile, but the time spent had aged her enough that she was able to delve into the lifestream more thoroughly. In doing so she had determined the rough whereabouts of her Cetra brethren in Cosmo Canyon. It was when she was on her way to find them that she was captured by the Holy Shinra Empire, which had been founded while she was away.

Professor Gast, who was given charge over Ilfana, was a kindhearted man. Although she was technically a prisoner, he treated her with the utmost respect, and the two began to have feelings for one another. As Gast's trust in Ilfana grew, she explained to him that she believed Rufus was actually the current incarnation of Jenova. Fearful of this, Professor Gast decided to escape with her and destroyed his own laboratory to fake their deaths.

Together, they had fled to the Frozen North and to the place where Ilfana had buried Holy, only to find the village of Icicle where it was hidden. Ilfana had become pregnant during their journey there, and so the couple had decided to hide here in this new village in the hopes that they would not be found. The small inn that Aerith had lived in had been constructed by them, partially as a place to dwell, and partially to cover up their excavation of the Holy orb.

It was nearly six years after Aerith was born that things went wrong. On a trip to Roram, Gast had learned that the Turks were searching for them. Apparently, Rufus had realized they were still alive. Fearing for young Aerith's safety, they made the decision to leave her in the village with Holy, and draw attention away from her by returning to the Midgar region. Though they did their best to avoid capture, the Turks eventually caught up to them.

Furious with Ilfana and Gast for tricking him, Rufus had given them over to Hojo, who had made them suffer much at the hands of his psychotic experiments before they finally died. They never once revealed Aerith's location, however, which is what kept her safe for so long. Now, as the bearer of Holy, the responsibility of destroying Rufus was in her hands. At last, she truly understood this.

Deep within the lifestream's influence, Aerith had known something was wrong just moments before the entire cave shook violently, causing her meditation to break as she braced herself with her hands on the floor. As the wisps of light faded, she looked around in the dim light of the chamber before it rocked once more.

"Elder," She said quietly, turning her head to look at the old Cetra sitting in the same spot he had been before. "Cosmo Canyon is in great danger."

"Yes, child." Bugenhagen said, the sorrow on his face also evident in his voice. "The time of the Cetra has come to an end. Jenova has found us at last."

"There are demons attacking." She said, remembering the glimpse that the lifestream had given her. "The ones Cloud told me about, created by the Empire to make people have more faith in Rufus."

"Yes, but it is what leads them that troubles me."

"The one who leads them?" Aerith repeated as she closed her eyes, drawing on her abilities as best she could to try and see what Bugenhagen was fearing. An image flashed in her mind, causing her to gasp loudly, her eyes snapping open as she realized the danger they were in. "Reno!"

"You know this creature?" Bugenhagen asked.

"Yes, but he's a man, not a creature." Aerith explained. "Well, I think he is anyway. He's one of the Emperor's closest friends. We fought him near your ship in the Frozen North. He said that Rufus gave him some of Jenova's power."

"You fought this man? What was the outcome?"

"We couldn't even scratch him." Aerith said, dropping her head as her eyes looked to the floor as if it contained the answer they needed. "We had to flee."

"It is not safe for you here, child." Bugenhagen sighed as the chamber shook again. "Even we Cetra may not be able to stop the advancement of both these false demons, and their Jenova spawned master. You must leave."

"Leave!" Aerith shouted, looking up in shock. "I can't do that; I'd be consigning you to death, elder! I have Holy with me, I can use it to stop him!"

"Holy is damaged, and we have no idea how much longer it will retain its power." Bugenhagen shook his head. "You must conserve it for when you face the Emperor. You will need its strength then."

"But I can't just leave you here." Aerith pleaded with him.

"You can, and you must." Bugenhagen said as sternly as he could while tears welled up in his eyes. "You have come so far in such a short time with me, child. Surely you have been blessed with the power to destroy Jenova and bring our long war with this evil creature to an end. I will have my warriors prepare a buggy for you to use. There are tunnels here that will take you nearly to Gonzaga, far from this battle."

"And what do I do when I get there?" Aerith asked, her voice choking with fear for her newfound kin. "My friends are at the temple, and I feel that they're in trouble as well."

"Yes, there is danger all around." Bugenhagen sighed as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Child, you must follow the will of the lifestream. You have been given a great power in Holy, and you are strong of spirit as well. Your magic grows stronger with the knowledge you have learned. You have the strength you require."

"What are you saying?" Aerith said, her forehead creasing in confusion. "I don't understand what you want me to do, elder."

"It is not what I wish for you to do child." Bugenhagen said, opening his eyes again and looking into hers. Reaching down, he took her hands in his and squeezed them tight. "It is what your destiny has laid out before you. You must travel to Midgar and put an end to this once and for all."

"Midgar?" Aerith's eyes widened. "Alone?"

"This is what the lifestream has told me." Bugenhagen consoled her. "You are powerful, and you will be safe. I feel that you will not be on your own in this quest, but you must begin the quest alone."

Aerith looked down, her eyes darting back and fourth in an erratic way as she thought it over. Swallowing hard, and trying her best to calm herself as the chamber shook once more causing dust to fall on their heads, she closed her eyes and focused on the will of the lifestream, letting its power and knowledge sooth and guide her.

"Alright." She said at last, her voice remarkably calm and determined. "I will fulfill my duty and use the powers that have been entrusted to me to destroy Jenova, once and for all."

* * *

The others had been gone nearly an hour. Tseng stood ever vigilant next to the temple entrance with his hands clasped behind his back in the classic Turk pose as he waited for word from the Highwind. Several times now the ship had passed close to him and signaled him just to say that everything was fine, so he thought little of it when he saw the airship in the distance, turning towards the temple again. The radio in his pocket beeped, prompting him to pull it out and flip it on, waiting for their "all's well" report to come through. Instead, though, there was a brief and unintelligible shout.

"Highwind, what was that?" Tseng said into the radio, clearly worried by the strange burst of sound.

In the distance, there was a flash to the rear of the airship. Tseng's eyes narrowed in concern as he whipped a small pair of binoculars from his coat. As he looked through them he saw a bizarre burst of light slash diagonally above the right engine, causing the hull to erupt in an extravagant blast. As smoke billowed from the damage, the ship tilted and began to rapidly fall from the air.

"Highwind!" Tseng shouted at the device again. "Do you copy!"

Just as the Highwind smashed into the island's jungle, a quiet sound came from Tseng's right. His mind had just enough time to register that it was a foot step before something cold and sharp pierced his right side, the metal of a thin sword sliding up between his ribs and through his lungs as he let out a terrible scream.

Tseng's vision went blurry as the sword was pulled out of his torso, causing him to drop to the ground in a quickly spreading pool of his own blood. He couldn't breath, and when he coughed blood sputtered from his lips to drip down his chin. His head hit the temple steps hard, causing his vision to worsen still as the back of his skull cracked. Fighting just to try and take a breath, he looked around through glassy eyes to find his attacker, his search coming to an end at a figure standing over him. Despite how badly he was hurt, and how terrible his sight had become, he was still able to recognize his killer.

"You...!" Tseng barely managed to choke out as blood dripped from his lips. "..Not you…"

The blurry figure standing over him raised the bloody sword into the air and brought it down once again. Tseng stopped thinking about the bitter irony of it all as the darkness crept up around him and drug him into death's cold embrace.

* * *

Just as before, the temple room they now found themselves in was distinctly different from the previous ones. They stood on a small platform in a circular chamber. There were twelve doors, including the one they had come through. Above each door was a plaque that numbered them one through twelve. No floor was visible, only a pit extending into darkness, but there were two large, stone rectangles floating in the air in front of them, one longer than the other. Both stones were slowly moving around a circular stone hovering at the very center of the pit.

"It's a clock." Tifa said in confusion after a moment of staring to realize what she was looking at.

"Yes." Replied Nanaki. "We must walk over the hands to reach the correct door. Only one leads out, the others would take us to dangers, and eventually back to this very spot where we would have to try again."

"So which door is it?" Vincent asked.

"The answer lies within." Nanaki said as he pointed to a series of murals painted above the doors.

The scenes laid out before them in the mural were similar to the ones found in Bugenhagen's chamber. The series of pictures depicted the Cetra's history with the Greater Demon: the battle with Jenova on Ce, the construction of their starship, the battle here on this world, sealing Jenova's soul away, the temple where Midgar now stands, the temple they were now in, and the Cetra helping the humans to rebuild the world.

"The trick is simply to add the various scenes of the story and find the sum." Nanaki explained.

"So it's seven?" Cloud asked as he counted the parts of the mural.

"Correct." Nanaki said as he reached to his left and took hold of a lever that was located there. As he pulled it, the stone hands of the clock rotated around until they were positioned as a walk path from where they stood to the seventh door. Upon a nod from Nanaki, they quickly, but carefully, moved over the stone hands and through the door.

They walked through a short hallway before emerging in another room, this one large but relatively plain. On the north wall was a row of Cetra statues. There was little else in the perfectly square chamber aside from a door on the east wall, and another on the west.

"Which way do we go?" Tifa asked.

"We go east." Nanaki simply said as he veered in that direction.

"What's through the other door?" Cloud asked as he stepped towards it out of curiosity.

"Don't go over there!" Nanaki shouted, darting quickly from where he was to grasp Cloud's arm and pull him away.

Just as he did so, the stones of the wall above the west door rippled as if they were made of water, and a monstrous head burst through as if the wall wasn't there at all. The head was enormous and grotesque, with wide jaws layered in sharp teeth, slitted nostrils and thin black eyes all connected to a long, thick neck. The strangest thing about it was its skin, which looked to be the same texture as the stones on the wall, complete with the lines of mortar that was mean to hold them in place. The creature roared, a high pitched squeal that shook the room and hurt their ears as one thin hand with long, wicked claws slashed out from another part of the wall, but not far enough to hit them where they stood. The wall creature roared once more before retracting its hand, and then its head and vanishing as if it hadn't existed in the first place.

"What the hell was that!" Tifa gasped as she continued to stare at the spot where the horrible head had come from.

"The Guardian. It attacks anyone who approaches that door." Nanaki growled, clearly annoyed at the close brush with death they'd just had. "Do not move towards it again."

"What is it guarding?" Cloud asked, his voice a bit shaken by the sudden appearance of the beast.

"Chaos." Nanaki said in a tone that demanded that the subject be dropped. "No one wishing to obtain it can do so without killing the creature, and that is no small task."

"Forget I asked." Cloud said as he straightened himself back up.

"I will." Nanaki sighed as he released Cloud's arm. "I am sorry for snapping at you. It's just very dangerous to go over there."

"So we see." Vincent said.

"Let's continue, we are almost there." Nanaki said as he walked to the east door and opened it for them.

Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent followed after him, but watched the wall above the door quite intently, worried that another monster may be hidden there as well. Fortunately, nothing occurred, and the four of them at last found themselves in a dark room, a single path up a short flight of stairs illuminated by a light that shone from somewhere up above. At the top of the stairs was a small pedestal where they could see a glowing object. Midway up the steps was a shimmering field of purple, some sort of shielding spell from the looks of it.

"The Atma Weapons were created for the sole purpose of destroying Jenova." Nanaki said as he began walking towards the field. "This barrier will read your intentions as you pass through it. Those who desire the weapon will not be allowed through unless they truly intend to use it for that very purpose."

"Then we have nothing to worry about." Cloud said as he fell in step behind Nanaki.

"Indeed." The Cetra said as he passed through the field without a problem, and came to a stop in front of the pedestal to wait for the others.

One by one, each of them passed through. Vincent hesitated slightly before trying, though, as he feared that his desire to kill Hojo more so than Rufus might hold him back, but he too was allowed to continue. The four of them stood around the pedestal, three of them staring down at the legendary weapon for the first time. Bathed in an other worldly blue glow, it appeared to be a single glove made of a shimmering black cloth, with pieces of white colored armor covering parts of it. Coming from the back of the glove were three long, sharp prongs that didn't seem to be made of anything physical. Each claw was composed of raw, humming power that was white at the center, darkening to blue on the outside.

"The Atma Claws." Nanaki announced.

"A hand to hand weapon?" Cloud asked, sounding a little disappointed. He'd been expecting an enormous broad sword.

"The Atma Weapons came in many forms. This is one of many designs we once had." Nanaki explained as he reached down and carefully lifted the weapon up in his hands. Turning towards Tifa, he extended the claws to her. "It seems they would best be suited to your fighting style."

"Me?" Tifa asked in surprise, looking to Cloud and Vincent as if to gain their approval. Neither of them seemed to have any objections, and Nanaki continued to hold them towards her. "Are you sure?"

"It would not be prudent for such a powerful weapon to be held by a fighter whose skills would not use it to its full potential."

"Well, okay." Tifa took a deep breath and bit her lower lip as she lifted the impressive looking glove from his hands. "It feels so light."

"It is the pinnacle of Cetra magic and technology. It has the ability to cut past Jenova's magical defenses, causing her damage while also lowering her ability to block more conventional weaponry."

"I'll use it with pride, then." Tifa said as she slid the glove over her right hand, feeling the power thrumming over her knuckles.

"I'm sure you will." Nanaki smiled at her as he patted her shoulder. "Now, let us return. Your friends will be waiting for us outside."

"Yeah." Cloud said as he slapped Tifa lightly on the back in a congratulatory manner.

Not being the celebratory type, Vincent stepped past them first, but he'd only taken one step when a shrill cry came from outside the Atma Claws room. The four of them looked quickly to the door, recognizing the sound from just moments earlier when they'd heard the guardian monster in the wall scream.

"Some one is here!" Nanaki gasped and darted past them; running down the steps and slamming the door open as the rest of them quickly followed him out.

The four of them flew through the door and back into the previous room, all of them skidding to a halt at what they saw there. The massive creature that lived in the wall was again extended out of its hiding place, but it was no longer an impressive display of malice. The creatures head and clawed hands hung low from the wall, laying on the ground limply with a foul smelling green ooze dripping from deep wounds all over its face.

The wall guardian was dead, and the door leading to the resting place of the doomsday weapon, Chaos, had been torn from its hinges.

* * *

With Nanaki at the lead, the party of four stormed through the broken doorway and into the room that held Chaos. It was identical to the one where they had retrieved the Atma Claws except for two important differences. One being that the violet barrier that guarded this pedestal had been utterly destroyed, with glowing pieces of the magical field laying scattered about like it were broken glass. The second difference was that the pedestal that should have contained Chaos was empty; they were too late.

"How could this have happened?" Tifa found herself wondering out loud, staring in disbelief at the spot that the Chaos orb was supposed to be.

"We must capture the thief!" Nanaki shouted, looking around the room hoping that the person was still around.

To their regret, there was no one here. Someone had managed to kill the guardian, destroy the barrier, and then escape with the orb in a matter of seconds. All of it had happened right under their noses. An impressive feat, no matter how you looked at it. Cursing in a foreign tongue, Nanaki ran back outside and into the central room. Heading straight for one of the statues on the north wall that they'd seen earlier, he pulled a panel on its chest open to reveal a hidden lever.

"Come to me, quickly!" He said, motioning frantically for them to gather around. As they did so, the Cetra pulled the lever and a yellow light immediately coursed around them until they could not see out of it. Seconds later it cleared away, and they found themselves standing outside the entrance to the temple. Apparently, it had been some sort of teleportation spell that allowed them a quick departure.

"Tseng!" Cloud shouted as he spotted the former Turk's body lying on the ground, covered in lukewarm blood. Running over to him, he felt along his neck for a pulse, realizing as he did so that it was futile. There was a deep wound in his side, and another gash over his chest. Even if the wounds weren't as severe as they obviously were, he'd lost far too much blood.

"Is he dead?" Tifa asked with panic in her voice.

"Yeah." Cloud said, his voice strained as he moved his fingers away from Tseng's neck and used them to close the man's eyes. "He's gone."

"Isn't there anything you can do!" Tifa pleaded, kneeling down and looking over the man's slowly whitening flesh with tears in her eyes.

"I'm afraid he is not the only one we should be worried about." Vincent grimly said as he pointed with his gauntleted hand into the forest. A thick plume of smoke was rising from a section of crushed in trees where the tail end of the Highwind was barely visible.

"Who could have done this?" Nanaki asked in horror at what he was witnessing.

As if to answer his question, the crunch of shoes on gravel came from down the base of the steps, prompting all of them to look and see the blue suited and bald headed form of Rude stepping into view. The Shinra agent stood at foot of the temple, staring up at them through the black sun glasses covering his eyes with his hands balled into fists at his side.

"You." Cloud growled as he stood up and stepped away from Tseng's corpse, pulling the Buster Sword from its place at his side as he did so. "I'll see you dead for this."

"Really?" Rude said in a gruff monotone. "That's amusing; I came here to kill you."

"You first!" Tifa yelled, her voice shaking with rage as he stood and brought her fists up into combat stance.

"Anxious to fight?" Rude asked, raising a hairless brow. "Fine by me. The faster we finish this, the faster I can go back and help take care of the girl you left in that little city."

"What?" Nanaki barked, feeling a terrible void in his stomach at the mention of his home. "What have you done to Cosmo Canyon!"

"I haven't done anything." Rude calmly stated. "I'm sure Reno and his Mako Demons are cleaning it up well, though."

"You monster!" Nanaki snarled. "So Jenova has possessed you as well!"

"Possessed?" Rude stared at the boy quizzically. "You seem to be mistaken. Jenova is dead; it would be hard for her to possess anyone."

"What?" Vincent asked, his eyebrows quirking. "But you use the power of Jenova, as does Rufus."

"Yes." Rude nodded once. "But that doesn't mean the old demon is alive. The seals the Cetra placed around Jenova's soul to destroy her succeeded, but left a fraction of the demons power and knowledge intact."

"So you're just using its power?" Vincent growled. "And to think we believed that you were all being controlled by a demon when you're the ones doing the controlling. I had hoped that actual humans would be incapable of committing such atrocities."

"By the honor of the Warriors of the Red Moon, I shall not let you leave this place alive!" Nanaki shouted as he took one step forward and let his human disguise fade away, revealing his true form.

"A Cetra?" Rude said, emotion actually seeping into his voice for once. "So then that city is where you've been hiding all this time. Reno might actually have his work cut out for him."

"I wouldn't be worrying about him!" Cloud shouted as he suddenly flew down the steps in leaps and bounds, taking three or four at a time.

An unfocused scream encompassing his anger, and pain ripped from Cloud's lungs as he raised his Buster Sword high and brought it down towards Rude's head. With his face remaining devoid of expression, Rude snapped his right hand down and a blade handle fell from his sleeve into his grip. With another snap of his hand a long, segmented sword grew from the hilt he held, and he brought it up to deflect Cloud's attack and push the boy back in mid air. Cloud landed in a crouch on one of the steps midway up the temple, and the battle had begun.

"Tifa!" Nanaki called to her, as he nodded to the Atma Claws on her right hand. "The key to this battle lies within your hands! Lead us well!"

Nodding fast, Tifa bound down the steps, gaining speed and leaping over Cloud to come down right in front of Rude. The Turk raised his blade up to lazily swat her away, obviously not expecting much of a challenge from a fistfight. Tifa narrowly ducked his attack and jabbed hard with her right hand, sending the shimmering claws into his chest. With a loud grunt, Rude doubled over, and before he really knew what had happened she swung her body, bringing her strong left leg into the side of his neck to send him tumbling into the grass away from the temple grounds. Though he showed no physical damage from where the Atma Claws had struck him, it was clear that they had affected him.

With a guttural war cry, Nanaki charged down the steps with impressive speed, his hands pulling a pair of daggers from his sides as he went. Vincent followed quickly, reaching to the holster on his torso, he brought his materia gun out in his right hand and began firing at Rude immediately.

Rude, who had now realized just what it was that Tifa was carrying, had stood back up and dodged Vincent's magical rounds with swift movements and one deflection with his sword. Cloud and Tifa went down the steps side by side and trapped Rude between them as Vincent continued to rain shots at him. Tifa stabbed quickly at his side, intent on hitting him in the kidneys, while Cloud lowered the Buster Sword and swung up in a diagonal slash.

Clearly concerned about the Atma Claws, Rude used his sword to swat her hand away, though the armored glove prevented him from actually injuring her. As a result of his focus on her, Cloud's attack hit him squarely in the chest, slashing through his suit and smacking hard into his ribs. Unlike the time he'd hit Reno, the Buster Sword knocked Rude flat on his back in addition to leaving a thick red welt across his chest. Though it wasn't quite the amount of damage a weapon like that should have inflicted, it was a considerable improvement over doing absolutely nothing. The Atma Claws were doing wonders at lowering his defense.

As Rude struggled to his feet, Nanaki landed at the bottom step on all fours and pounced forward with powerful legs to thrust his daggers at Rude's stomach. Flipping backwards to get to his feet, Rude caught Nanaki's jaw with a hard kick that sent the Cetra tumbling, but the attack had distracted the Turk just enough to give Tifa an opening. With a sweep of her feet, she again sent Rude to the ground, and drove the Atma Claws hard into his chest before he could manage to roll away.

Groaning, and gritting his teeth from whatever pain the energy weapon was wreaking upon him, Rude kicked his feet into the air and spun on his spine to throw his legs in a twirl that knocked all three of his opponents away from him. With the coast momentarily clear, Rude hopped back to his feet, but was greeted by the butt of Vincent's gun which hit him squarely in the jaw and sent him staggering back.

With a heavy grunt, Rude snapped his head back towards Vincent and head butted him hard in the chin. From a normal man, such an attack would have caused Vincent to fall back. Coming from Rude, it sent Vincent flying through the air until he came to a stop on one of the temple's outer walls, sending dust and rock flying while his body bounced off and smacked into the ground.

Angered at his earlier failure, Nanaki launched himself at Rude from behind. With the Turks' attention elsewhere, he was able to land a solid stab into his back, just below his rib cage. This time, the Cetra's physical weapon managed to just slightly break Rude's outer layer of skin, leaving a smudge of blood on the blade. Hissing in anger, Rude turned and grabbed Nanaki's head, lifting him in the air and flipping him over and into the ground.

As Nanaki howled in pain, Cloud shoulder-checked Rude in the side, sending him staggering into Tifa, who jabbed the Atma Claws into his stomach. Gasping, Rude swung at her with his left fist and connected to her collar bone, sending her falling head over heels into a bush. Turning, he brought his sword up to deflect Cloud's as the blond rushed him again, but this time the Buster Sword was too much. Its heavy weight broke Rude's extension sword in half, sending slivers of metal flying as the thick blade smashed hard into Rude's right shoulder.

Rude fell over, landing on his back before flipping to his feet and bouncing away several feet. Looking around quickly, he saw Cloud running for him again, and in the background Vincent and Nanaki were getting to their feet. A sound to his left indicated that Tifa was again on the move, and he knew that the battle was not going in his favor. Cursing loudly, Rude turn and ran for the jungle with blazing speed, and leapt into the tree line.

* * *

Seeing Rude flee into the jungle, the four of them stopped pursuing momentarily and gathered themselves together. They weren't sure if Rude was actually running away, or merely trying to find cover to launch a new offensive, and not knowing was enough to give them pause. Not one to wait around, Vincent reached into his long red mantle and pulled out a grenade that Jessie had given him during their trip. Pulling the pin, he hurled it into the forest without a word, and watched as the explosion sent flame, smoke, dirt, and wood flying in every direction.

Shielding their faces, the others scanned the burning foliage in search of the wretched man, but didn't see him anywhere. For a painfully long minute there was no sound, but then Rude burst back out of the trees and landed before them, and he had changed drastically. Gone was the stern looking man in the blue suit, replaced by a massive and bulky suit of armor that stood nearly twenty feet in height. The helmet, from which shown brightly glowing blue eyes, seemed rather small in proportion to the rest of the suit as it sat between enormous shoulder pads. All of the armor pieces appeared to be made out of lumps of diamonds.

This Diamond Demon let out a ferocious cry that shook the entire area and began charging towards them. Caught totally off-guard by the sudden change in appearance, the party faltered and fell back, all except for Vincent. As a monster in his own right, the sight of the diamond suit barreling down at him gave him little if any fear. Raising his gun, he began firing with precision at the thing's chest, sending chunks of diamond armor flying. Not slowed down in the slightest, the armor ran into their midst and slammed one enormous fist down, narrowly missing Nanaki, who rolled to his left just in time to avoid certain death.

"I thought you said these claws would weaken him!" Tifa screamed as she got to a safe distance and plotted a new strategy.

"They do!" Nanaki shouted as he darted further from the diamond creatures ground shaking blows. "He must have summoned all his power to create this armored shell around him!"

"Just makes him a bigger target!" Cloud shouted as he readied his sword and ran towards the beast.

Rude's diamond armor swung its right fist at the blond, but Cloud ducked low and avoided the attack. Pointing his Buster Sword up, he thrust it at the creature's wrist, causing a large slab of diamond to crumble off. Howling with demonic rage, the armor swung its other fist at Cloud, catching him on the shoulder and sending him tumbling wildly away.

As Vincent continued to fire at it with varied rounds of magic, the armor turned its attention towards Tifa who held the Atma Claws. With a roar, it leaned its head forward. Bright beams of blue light erupted from its eyes and flew towards the voluptuous fighter. Working swiftly despite the unexpected form of attack, Tifa slammed her left palm into the ground and cast a variation of her gray magic's stone spell, causing a pillar of rock to jut from the ground. The beams hit the pillar and exploded, sending the girl tumbling to her rear, but she was still alive, and that was the important thing. Tifa scrambled up and ran as another blast narrowly missed her head.

Not pleased with the armor's new means of assault, Vincent took careful aim and fired an electrical round that hit the suit's glowing left eye. The armor reared back, clawing at its face as the right side of its helmet exploded, revealing nothing but swirling darkness inside of it. Nanaki and Tifa took the opportunity and darted towards the diamond armor. Leaping up, Tifa hooked her hand on one of its shelled knees and used it to swing up higher. Latching onto the monsters chest, she began to pummel into the armor with her right hand, sending shards of diamond flying as the Atma Claws tore into it.

As the demon shuddered from the energy-sapping effect of the weapon, Nanaki raised his hands into the air, his eyes closed as he chanted furiously. Tifa leapt off and rolled to the ground as Nanaki's spell sent a bolt of ice and fire crashing into the armors abdomen. As the two high powered spells hit, they reacted violently to each other due to their opposite natures. The explosion of flame and frost that followed shattered the suits breast plate completely and sent the whole beast crashing to the ground.

Finally climbing to his feet after he'd been knocked aside, Cloud cast a quick healing spell on himself to dull the pain of his broken ribs and plunged back into the battle with a staggering run that slowly subsided as his healing spell took full effect. With a running leap, he slashed the armor across its side while landing on a sliver of the armor remaining from its shattered chest. Raising the Buster Sword high, he brought it crashing down into the swirling black mist that resided within the armor. Not knowing if a physical blade would do any damage to something like that, he channeled a quick Thundaga spell through his weapon that sent electrical currents ripping through the armors frame. Howling again, the suit pulled itself to its feet and swung at Cloud, who avoided the blow only because he had lost his footing and fell to the ground, where he lay on his side in a painful heap.

Shouting a command at Vincent, Tifa ran towards him as she set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. As she reached the red cloaked assassin, he dropped his hands down for her to step in, and used his ungodly strength to hurl her towards the armor. With a loud battle scream, Tifa flew straight into the hole in the armors chest, swinging the Atma Claws into the black mist inside before exploding out the back of the armor with a solid kick to its weakened structure. Tifa flew into a tree, badly scraping and bruising her shoulder, but she came down on her feet and turned to look at the armor as she squinted her eyes in pain.

With one more howl, the armored suit exploded into a wave of blue and black energy. The party shielded their eyes and dug their feet into the ground as a powerful wave rushed past them. As it cleared, they looked up to see the diamond armor laying in a crumbled heap, now only a shattered shell. In a final display, the armor erupted into a cloud of diamond dust that obscured their vision as it slowly floated to the ground.

With the battle over, Nanaki ran towards Cloud and Tifa to help his injured friends, but was stopped short as a heavy fist flew from the edge of the dust cloud and hit him in the gut, sending him falling to the ground. With an angered scream, Rude flew from the edges of the dust cloud, back to his normal self, though in much worse condition. His suit was ripped and torn all over, his skin covered in cuts and gashes oozing red blood, and even his sun glasses were cracked, though his eyes were still mostly hidden behind them.

Not seeming very shocked by the Turk's reemergence, Vincent raised his gun once more and pulled the trigger. The fire based round hit Rude in the left shoulder and blew straight through his flesh and out the other side, leaving a singed and ragged hole in its wake. Rude screamed in pain, but continued to run at Nanaki. Annoyed at himself for dropping his guard, the Cetra warrior hopped back to his feet and greeted Rude with a punch to his gut. Rude staggered, but swung again with his good arm, hitting Nanaki in the right jaw.

Letting loose an animal growl, Nanaki gained a bounce in his step as he brought his fist into Rude's neck. The Turk stumbled, grasping at his throat as he choked. Not fully deterred, Rude swung his weight around and kicked Nanaki in the side. Nanaki fell to the ground, but bounded back up quickly, and ran back at his opponent, who appeared to have used the last reserves of his power, leaving him very vulnerable, and very much mortal. With one last powerful swing, Nanaki cracked Rude right in his nose, and the Turk fell over backwards, collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Battered and bruised, the party watched the unmoving figure as he lay on the ground, but it appeared that this time the battle was truly over. Rolling onto his back, Rude took a ragged breath and coughed up blood.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." Rude said through gasping breaths as he stared through his shattered sun glasses into the mid afternoon sky. "I can't die here. Not like this."

"Yes." Vincent said as he slowly walked over to the broken man and stood over him. "You can."

Aiming his materia gun at Rude's chest, Vincent rapidly squeezed the trigger. As five loud shots echoed through the darkening sky, Rude groaned and his head fell limply to the ground.


	11. Chapter XI Breakdown

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for chapter XII.

MatrixSailorStarKnightZ asked in her review whether the dialogue "Are you an angel?", which Cloud used in Chapter VI, was a reference to anything. Though I do have many little bits of homage in my story, this one wasn't meant to be such. Any resemblance this quote bears to something from some other story/movie/game is purely coincidental.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter XI

Breakdown

After nearly four hours of attempts, the three person crew of the Highwind succeeded in putting all the fires out. Though the airship had crashed hard, its sturdy armor and construction had kept everyone alive and most of the ship intact.

With a heavy kick, Jessie knocked a ruined piece of piping out of her way and continued moving quickly through the damaged right engine compartment. She was covered in soot and blood, and her clothing was ripped to shreds, but all things considered she was just happy to be alive. Another thing she was glad about was the condition of the airship. Although the attack that crippled it and sent them crashing did enormous damage to the ship's exterior, the thick hull had kept the engine from being totaled.

"How's it look on your end, kid?" Cid's voice called out from the other end of the hot and smoking compartment.

"Not nearly as bad as it could be!" Jessie shouted back as she pulled a ripped hose out of her way and was rewarded by a spray of oil to her face. Wiping it off she yelled. "A lot of the wiring is shot, and the rotors are in pretty bad shape!"

"I see at least three belts that need replacing, and we'll have to rebuild the entire goddamn fuel and materia intake!" Cid yelled back to her. "But we have spares, so we're okay!"

"I gotta hand it to you, Cid." Jessie laughed at the situation. "This ship is something else. I bet we can have it up and running in just a couple of days."

"You're awfully chipper." Cid grunted as he popped a deformed bolt out of place with his wrench.

"Yeah. Well, some times you just have to laugh, you know?" Besides, it was far better than thinking about what had happened, and whether or not her friends at the temple were still alive.

"I'm picking up signals coming from outside." Sherra's voice crackled through the radio's Jessie and Cid were both carrying. "Looks like we have company."

"Can you see them from the control deck?" Cid asked, his voice suddenly even more grim than usual as he dropped what he was doing. "Are they hostile?"

"Sorry, no." Sherra apologized. "They're coming from the east."

"What direction is the temple in?" Jessie asked hopefully.

"We lost our bearings during the crash." Sherra sighed. "I'm not sure which way it is."

"We better go down there." Cid grumbled as he came around the engine to where Jessie was. He looked to be just as bad off as she was. "Let's go, kid."

"Right." Jessie nodded as she stood up and followed him out of the engine compartment.

It took them a little longer than usual to reach the exit, given the amount of debris lining the Highwind's corridors. Just getting down the ramp took more than they were used to, as it was facing an odd angle thanks to the crash. When at last Cid and Jessie made it to the darkness of the night time jungle, they almost ran headfirst into the people they were looking for.

"Guys!" Jessie shouted with glee as she saw Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, and Nanaki limping towards them. They looked like they'd been through hell, but she wasn't complaining. Rushing forward she gave each of them a hug, even the Cetra warrior. "We didn't know what happened to you!"

"Same goes for you." Cloud grunted, clearly in pain and out of breath from the long trek they'd made through the jungles. "We could see the smoke from the temple."

"It's not as bad as it looks." Cid boasted as he turned his head up to look at the damage from the outside for the first time. "She's a tough -----. We'll have her flying again before you know it."

"Wait a minute." Jessie said as she hugged onto Vincent a second time. Looking around at the group, her eyes filled with dread as she noticed an absence. "Where's Tseng?"

"He's dead." Vincent darkly said.

"Rude got him." Tifa quietly added. "He attacked us as we came out of the temple."

"I see." Jessie said with a grim tone as she set her jaw and stared at the ground. Though Tseng hadn't been in the little group for as long as most of them had, his actions, both before they'd met him and after, had profound effects on their missions.

"We must return to Cosmo Canyon as swiftly as possible." Nanaki said, his voice filled with misery. "My people and your friend are in grave danger."

"Why?" Cid asked. "What the hell is going on now?"

"Reno and Rude must have followed us there." Cloud said angrily. "Rude told us that Reno and a bunch of Mako Demons are attacking Cosmo Canyon."

"What about Rude?" Jessie asked. "What's he doing?"

"Rude is no longer an issue." Vincent stated coolly.

"We killed him." Nanaki declared.

"You what!" Jessie cried out. "How the hell did you do that!"

"With this." Tifa quietly said as she looked over the Atma Claws on her fist that had played a crucial role in that victory.

"Is that the weapon we came here for?" Jessie asked, staring at the alien design in awe.

"Yes." Nanaki interrupted them. "But there are greater matters at hand. We must get this ship airborne as fast as possible. The fate of the world could be at stake."

"What do you mean?" Cid grumbled.

"The Chaos orb that Bugenhagen told us about." Cloud said. "It's gone. We think that Rude stole it, but we couldn't find it on his body. He must have had some one else with him. Rufus may already have it."

"Oh, ----." Jessie breathed out, her eyes widening slightly at that horrifying possibility.

"Yeah, we know." Tifa sighed. "Let's just get in there and fix this thing up. Tell us what we can do to help."

Without a word, Cid pulled a cigarette from the pack clipped to the piloting goggles he wore around his forehead. Stuffing the cancer-stick into his mouth, he lit it with a flick of flame from his lighter and took a long drag before blowing it out and motioning for them to follow him back inside the ship.

* * *

With everyone working together the Highwind was repaired in just over a day. Though the ship still needed to undergo a much more thorough overhaul, it would be enough to get them around for the time being. With Cid at the helm, the Highwind set off for Cosmo Canyon, giving the others the first two hours of uneasy sleep they'd had in days.

Awakened by Cid's booming voice coming through the ships intercom, they all made their way to the bridge just as the Highwind arrived at the Cetra city. Even at their altitude they could already tell that the situation wasn't good. They had known that things would be bad given that Rude had told them that Reno was here, but nothing could have prepared them for what they witnessed. Fire and smoke could be seen coming from almost every home and cave mouth that Cosmo Canyon had to offer. As the airship landed and they set out on foot, leaving only Cid and Sherra behind, the horrible tragedy became crystal clear.

The outer walls of Cosmo Canyon had been blown to pieces, as evident by the boulders and debris that covered the landscape. The bodies of hundreds of Cetra men, women, and even children littered the area, thrown about like rag dolls in ruined heaps. Blood was everywhere, and the city was scorched with the markings of an epic magical battle. One building in particular caught their eyes; a small shop that had been decimated, with only one wall still standing. The stone was burnt black, but at the center a spot in the shape of Cetra woman was not singed. A charred corpse lay on the ground below the wall as the final proof of what had happened. The carnage was gargantuan in scale, enough to make even seasoned warriors feel their stomachs churn.

Nanaki walked in shocked silence through the ruins of his home, stopping every so often to check on fallen Cetra, presumably ones he'd personally known. No one said anything to him as he stumbled about the dead bodies of his friends and family. They followed behind him, gaping at the genocide laid out before them. Even Vincent looked disturbed, not to mention the others, who were far more susceptible to such sights. The only ones here who could possibly come close to understanding what Nanaki must be feeling were Cloud and Tifa, but they had only lost one town. Nanaki had just lost his race.

Heading into one of the tunnels leading to the underground city, things became even worse. The attack on the outer walls had most likely caught the Cetra by complete surprise, which is why there were so many civilian bodies there. Apparently, this is where the scrambling Cetra warriors had met the invaders with the brunt of their forces. There were fewer civilians here, but the bodies of many Red Moon warriors were scattered about everywhere in a gory display. The tunnel walls were burnt so badly by magic that some parts of the stone had turned to darkened glass. In addition, there were also a few, massive, gray and blue skinned corpses of creatures that had long ago been human. Mako Demons; Cloud would never forget their burning red eyes and the long fleshy tendrils that grew from their heads like massive locks of hair. They were the completed versions of the type that he and Zach had stumbled upon Branch Seven of the Magic and Technology Research Division back in Midgar all those months ago.

With Tifa holding her hand over her mouth to try and keep herself from vomiting from the visions and smells, the abnormally quiet party continued on and down into the cavernous metropolis of the Cetra's underground city. When they arrived, it became painfully apparent that the Warriors of the Red Moon had failed to stop the invasion at the tunnels. The buildings here, which were far more elaborate than the farce that had been constructed on the canyon walls, lay in rubble. Many more fallen Mako Demons were visible here as well.

To their surprise, there wasn't nearly as much blood as they would have expected from the amount of bodies that could be seen everywhere. It seemed that most of them had died from massive magical attacks, or the collapse of buildings that resulted from them. It was as if a thousand powerful mages had simultaneously cast Ultima, Meteo, Flare, and a dozen other high-level spells. Some poor souls had even been turned to solid stone by the fierceness of the Mako Demon's mystical assault. The results were heart rending scenes frozen forever in time of mothers ineffectively trying to shield their children, and men and women weeping over their dead loved ones. It was like an unreal glimpse of what the apocalypse would bring. It was nearly unfathomable to think that the creature's that had done this were man made, and not truly demons.

Just a few steps into the smoke-fogged and decimated city, Nanaki nearly stumbled across the body of one of his female warriors. The others recognized her as one of the few who had helped escort them to Bugenhagen during their first visit here, just days ago. Losing the last of his mental strength, he fell to his knees next to the corpse, eyes widening as he looked over her. The deceased warrior's short hair and tribal clothing had been darkened by drying blood, the crimson inside of her throat exposed by gashes obviously left by claws. Her green, cat-slit eyes were still open, staring at nothing, as Nanaki slid his arms underneath her. The woman's head rolled limply to the side as he cradled her lifeless body. Nanaki touched his forehead to hers as a howl of misery left him and echoed through the cavern as tears abruptly soaked his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry." Tifa said, her voice sincere as she stepped up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "I wish there was something I could do."

"This is our fault." Cloud muttered, looking around at the horrible scenes of death as flashes of the slaughter of Nibelheim came to him. "We led them here without even knowing."

"No." Nanaki barely managed to say through his bitter tears. "You are not to blame. Even knowing that Rufus had taken Jenova's power, we remained here. We should have rallied and attacked him before his Empire was even built, but we had grown so complacent. We brought this upon ourselves."

The party went quiet. There was nothing any of them could say that would do this tragedy any justice, so they merely stayed silent. Nanaki continued to hold his dead warrior, though he was slowly pushing back his tears. It was then that a sound came from further down the caverns. Nanaki was the first to hear it, his pointed ears twitching and causing the others to become alert. They listened closely as they heard sounds of movements coming from deeper in the cave. Whether they were friend or foe, they couldn't tell, but they were coming closer.

"War Chief!" A heavily accented voice called out as a group of Cetra warriors appeared from behind a destroyed building.

"Tekthani!" Nanaki shouted to the other as he placed the dead Cetra female lightly on the ground and ran towards his comrades. The slaughter all around him was momentarily drowned out by the elation of seeing survivors.

Moving towards each other, and being very careful not to step on any of the bodies strewn about, the two groups met and greeted each other with great enthusiasm.

"We feared that you would not return." The Cetra named Tekthani told him. He looked to be much older than Nanaki, with the beginnings of wrinkles running over his dark skin. The clothing he wore was tattered and tarnished with blood, both red, and a peculiar bluish tinge that had probably come from the Mako Demons. A single glance at him told that he was very tired, mentally and physically. The other warriors who were with him looked much the same.

"We were attacked at the temple." Nanaki explained. "We lost one man, but we were able to defeat the Jenova spawn there."

"We too emerged victorious." Tekthani said with obvious distress in his voice. "If such devastation can be called a triumph."

"Yes, I know" Nanaki said, his anguish sweeping over his face once more as Tekthani's words reminded him of his surroundings. "Tell me what happened here."

"A Shinra agent led an army of creatures to attack us." He replied with a quiet voice. "We believe their numbers were nearly one hundred."

"One hundred?" Nanaki wheezed in disbelief. "How could such a small number do this!"

"The Mako Demons are very powerful." Cloud interrupted. "It takes entire teams of Imperial Special Operations soldiers to kill even one or two of them."

"Yes." Tekthani nodded in agreement, his body quivering at the memories of the beasts he saw. "The creatures were very formidable, but the most damage was dealt by the one who led them."

"Reno." Vincent spat out in disgust.

"He displayed power unlike we have ever witnessed with our own eyes." Tekthani shook his head as if to deny the astonishing things Reno had done. "Surely he was a demon."

"He was no demon." Nanaki growled with seething hatred for the man who had destroyed his home and his people. "But he was calling upon the power of one. That bastard used the strength of Jenova."

"How did you beat him?" Tifa asked in confusion, realizing that they must have been able to drive him off; otherwise he would still be here attacking them.

"We did not." Tekthani said as he dropped his eyes in disgrace. When he spoke again, his voice was one of a defeated soul. "Forgive me, Nanaki. We were powerless against this man."

"It isn't your fault." Nanaki assured him, placing his hands on the warrior's shoulders in a firm grip to show him that he was sincere. "Just tell me what happened."

"He fled." One of the other Cetra spoke up.

"He did what now?" Jessie asked with doubt in her voice.

"Orivan speaks the truth." Tekthani looked to the woman with pain in his eyes as he defended his warrior. "The man you call Reno could have destroyed us all, but he left a little over a day ago."

"Perhaps he could sense that Rude was killed?" Nanaki asked, looking to Cloud for his opinion.

"I guess that's possible." The blond nodded. "That would probably be enough to spook him into going back to Midgar. After all, they haven't had anyone who could stand up to them in nearly a century."

"Or perhaps he has Chaos." Vincent pointed out. "Rude may have some how sent it to him for safekeeping, and he in turn took it to Rufus."

"I don't know about that." Tifa rebutted. "I don't think he'd send something that valuable back into the heart of an even bigger battle than what he was about to get into."

"She's probably right." Cloud agreed. "It's more likely that Rude had one of these Mako Demons, or maybe a regular Turk with him, and they took it back to Midgar."

"Chaos is gone?" Tekthani asked, his face paling at the dread such a thing invoked.

"Yes." Nanaki let out a deep sigh and tried to push this catastrophe out of his mind for now. "And we must retrieve it. Take me to Bugenhagen; we must have his council on this matter."

The group of Cetra warriors instantly fell silent. None of them, not even their current leader Tekthani, said a word as almost all of them looked to the ground or diverted their eyes away from Nanaki.

"Where is my grandfather?" He asked in a quiet whisper as a horrific feeling crept up on him.

"I am so sorry, Nanaki." Tekthani said with heartfelt sorrow in his eyes and a broken voice. "The elder perished in the attack, along with many of our brethren."

Silently, Nanaki took a step backwards, a terrible pain running through his body as his face twisted with emotional chaos. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. After a moment of uneasy silence, he took three shaky steps away and sat down on a pile of rubble, his back to them as he dropped his head into the palms of his hands.

"Nanaki." Jessie quietly whispered from behind him as all the others looked to him with sympathy. She began to walk towards him, hoping to lend some comfort, but Cloud stopped her with an upraised arm. Jessie looked to him in confusion as he shook his head quietly.

"What about Aerith?" Tifa asked the Cetra warriors quietly, clearly worried for the girl's safety. "She was with Bugenhagen, is she alright?"

"She is no longer here." Tekthani spoke softly as he watched Nanaki mourn. "Just as the battle began, Bugenhagen sent her away through the back tunnels in a buggy."

"Do you know where she is now?" Jessie asked.

"Bugenhagen told us that she is going to Midgar."

"Midgar!" Cloud exclaimed in a harsh whisper, verbalizing the shock that was on all their faces while trying desperately to not disturb Nanaki. "What the hell is she going there for!"

"She is planning to use Holy to destroy Rufus." Tekthani said as he sighed and looked away from his War Chief, turning his bright eyes to Cloud. "Bugenhagen said that it was the will of the lifestream."

"But she can't go alone!" Tifa said in panic.

"She is not to be unaided." Tekthani shook his head. "The elder was quite clear that she would be joined by others before the battle with Rufus was to commence."

"Grandfather was highly attuned to the lifestream." Nanaki whispered from his seat near them. "Perhaps he wished for her to leave for Midgar so that we would follow after her."

Tifa began to walk over to him with the same intention that Jessie had a few moments previous, but she too was stopped, except this time it was by Nanaki.

"I will be fine." He said in strong voice that surprised everyone. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he stood back up and turned to them. Although his face still wore signs of internal misery, he straightened himself and held back his anguish as best he could. "There is no more time for tears. As War Chief of the Red Moon, I must lead my people in the absence of my grandfather."

"Are you saying that he may have sent her to Midgar to act as a catalyst for a confrontation with Rufus?" Vincent asked.

"It is possible." Nanaki replied as he regained more of his usual composure.

"Well, he was damn right." Cloud grimaced. "We have to get to her right away. We can't let her do this alone."

"Settle down, Cloud." Jessie told him. "On her own it's going to take her a while to get to Midgar. Let's head back to Wutai, repair the ship real fast, and get Colonel Miyama's help."

"I think that's a good idea." Tifa nodded her approval.

"Fine." Cloud grunted, though he didn't sound very happy about it. "I'll have Miyama contact this Reeves guy and have him watch for Aerith. If he really does work in the government, hopefully he can spot her in the city before she gets too close to Rufus."

"What would you have us do, Nanaki?" Tekthani asked, his voice filled with pride and respect for the other Cetra.

"How many of our people remain?"

"We have not been able to do a proper tally." Tekthani sighed with remorse. "But there cannot be more than three or four thousand. We still search for survivors in the ruins."

"Three thousand?" Nanaki whispered as he ground his teeth together. "From a city of nearly fifty times that number?"

"Had we not evacuated civilians to the furthest caves when we realized what we were fighting against," Tekthani's shoulders slumped in defeat. "That number would be even smaller."

Nanaki looked down, closing his eyes and breathing heavily as he attempted to clear his mind and touch the lifestream to gain the clarity and strength he required at this time. At last, he looked up and turned to Cloud.

"Can you give us the location of Ahziralirul? My people can no longer stay here. We must relocate to some place where we can be safe."

"Of course." Cloud nodded. "The Highwind probably has exact records of where it was in its maps."

"Good." Nanaki looked back to Tekthani. "Take what remains of our people and journey to the coordinates this man gives you. Bring only what you need, and stay hidden as you go. You must depart hastily and travel even more so. Rufus could send forces back to finish what Reno started, so you must leave no trace of where you are headed."

"We will do as you command, War Chief." Tekthani bowed his head. "But what of you?"

"I will go with these humans and do battle against Rufus." Nanaki said, his voice stern and hateful. "I will bring honor back to our people, and I will make Shinra pay for what they have done here, and to the rest of this world."

* * *

From the luxurious surroundings of his office at the top of the Shinra Imperial Government Tower, Rufus watched the city of Midgar. From his glass and marble desk a record player released the soothing sounds of classical symphonies into the otherwise quiet chamber.

A deep purr came from his left, prompting him to reach over and pet the enormous feline form of Kuro who sat at his side. Standing here watching his city and basking in his music, he could almost be at total peace, but he wasn't. All was not right in the glorious Holy Shinra Empire, and it hadn't been since Cloud Strife and his band of revolutionaries had begun causing trouble.

Quick footsteps invaded his solitude and Rufus turned to see Reno come to a stop just a few feet short of him. The Turk said nothing, but his posture and expression betrayed his silence for him.

"What happened?"

"It's Rude." Reno grimaced. "He's dead."

"Dead!" Rufus asked in shock. "How is that possible!"

"I don't know." Reno admitted, shaking his head and running a hand through his long red hair in a nervous gesture. "We split up, so I didn't see it."

"Are you sure about this?" Rufus asked, the thought of losing his longtime friend weighing heavily on his mind.

"Yeah." Reno said in a defeated voice. "I felt it hit me pretty hard. He must not have been real far from where I was."

"Why did you split up?" Rufus asked as he felt the sudden need to sit down.

"Right when he got there, Cloud and his pals left the city in the Highwind. We decided that Rude would go after them, and I'd stay with the Mako Demons and blow up the city since they left Aerith inside."

"But how could they possibly kill him?" Rufus asked, bewildered. "You fought them when they had Sephiroth with them, and even then they were no match for you."

"Yeah." Reno said, looking disturbed. "But when I attacked the city I found out that it was more than it seemed. The people living there were all Cetra."

"An entire _city_?" Rufus asked, the thought of it almost too incredible to grasp. "So that's why they went there. The Cetra must have given them the means to fight against Jenova's power!"

"I was kind of thinking the same thing." Reno said and sounded not too happy about the possibility. "Another Atma Weapon, maybe?"

"How could we have been so careless?" Rufus wondered out loud as he placed his hand over his eyes and rubbed at his temples. "I can't believe Rude is dead."

"We were deep in combat with the Cetra when I felt it happen." Reno mumbled. "I didn't know what was going on, and I was worried that they might have a way of attacking me too, so I took off and left the fight to the Mako Demons."

"And Holy?" Rufus asked, looking up. "What happened to it?"

"I don't know." Reno admitted. "I'm not sure if she was still even in the city by that point. I mean, I figure she'd have used it during the fight, or at least been spotted by the demons. I think she must have had another way out and took it."

"You mean that Rude is dead," Rufus gritted his teeth. "And we have nothing to show for it?"

"Well he contacted me and said that he'd followed the Highwind to something important." Reno said, trying to find something to help salvage this botched mission. "He said he'd give me more details later, but then they must have got him."

"That does us little good if he's not here to give us the details, now does it?" Rufus let out a frustrated sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry." Reno said, equally frustrated. "I didn't know what else to do than to come back and let you know."

"No, it's alright." Rufus said, raising a hand to silence the Turk. "You did the right thing under the circumstances. I'm just not very happy with this news."

"Well, it's not like I am either." Reno grumbled. "I've known him just as long as you have."

"Yes, I know." Rufus replied, but his thoughts were now elsewhere. "If they have an Atma Weapon and still have Holy, then we have to assume they plan to use them."

"You think they'll come after us here?"

"They have no other choice." Rufus grunted. "They know we won't leave Midgar when we could be in danger."

"What do we do then?"

"We need to plan." Rufus breathed out a heavy sigh. "Everything we've worked to create is at stake."

* * *

Beneath the city of Midgar, hidden within the sewers and catacombs found there, the terrorist organization known as Avalanche waited in secret. Many long months had passed since their not-so-coincidental encounter with Cloud Strife that had sent one of their members with him across the globe. Since that time Barret, Biggs, and Wedge had remained relatively quiet, forgoing their usual bombing runs as they waited for the Empire to forget about them. Though they had tried their best to find out who it was that Reeves was now working with, they uncovered practically nothing. It didn't surprise them, per se. After all, Reeves had hidden his dealings from Rufus; he could certainly hide them from Avalanche.

This night, however, was different. It had been apparent for several days that something major had occurred. Now, at last, Reeves had set up a meeting with them to explain the details. So now here they stood with their backs to the sewer walls at the spot Reeves had specified, waiting for him to arrive so he could give them the news, and so they could ask him some questions.

With an unspectacular splash, Reeves stepped through a puddle and they all looked to see him. Again in his white and blue suit, he stood out against Avalanche's mottled array of camouflage and armor.

"Glad you could make it." Reeves said to the trio as he shook the water from the bottom of his shoe.

"Likewise." Barret grunted. "We were starting to think you'd forgotten about us."

Noting the animosity in Barret's voice, Reeves looked up from his shoe to see the three men glaring at him as if they were considering mugging him.

"I know I haven't been in contact lately," Reeves spoke evenly, not frightened by their stares. "But that's no reason to turn on me now."

"No, but you hiding ---- from us is." Biggs snapped out.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what he means." Barret cut in before Biggs could respond and stepped up to Reeves, trying to let his towering height intimidate the politician. "The last mission you helped us on was attacking Branch Seven, where we just happened to run into the very man we've been watching for this whole damn time. We even helped him bust their friend out of jail and get them out of the city, and we had almost no resistance from the military or the Turks."

Reeves, who didn't seem phased by the enormous man leering down at him, just shook his head. "And your point would be?"

"It was set up." Wedge chimed in.

"Oh really?" Reeves raised a brow.

"Yeah." Biggs added. "And not only by you. Even you don't have connections that great. Who're you working with?"

Reeves took some time to look back and fourth between, and observe the members of Avalanche before he finally let out a tired sigh of resignation. "Fine. If you really must know, Anthony Zahn helped me set it up."

"Zahn?" Biggs gawked at him. "As in the Lieutenant General of the HSIA?"

"That's the one."

"Are you out of you're ----ing mind, man!" Barret rumbled at him as he shook his fist in the air. "That guy commands half the god damn army!"

"Thank you for informing me." Reeves sarcastically retorted. "That's precisely what makes him such a valuable asset right now."

"And you really think you can trust this guy!" Wedge was practically choking on the candy bar he had just taken a bite out of.

"Not at all." Reeves shook his head no. "But we have a common enemy, and for now, that's enough."

"How the hell do you know he's not reporting all of this ---- directly to Rufus!" Barret shot back.

"Please." Reeves sighed again. "If that were the case, I'd have been killed long ago, and none of this would have come so far."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Wedge asked.

"The fewer who know about his involvement, the easier it is to keep it a secret. He's in the spot light enough that even a simple rumor about him turning traitorous against Rufus could ruin it all."

"I don't like him being in on this, man!" Barret scowled. "Not one bit!"

"You're just going to have to trust me." Reeves sounded sincere. "You and I both want Rufus removed from power. We've worked together for a long time; don't lose faith in me now."

Barret's eyes narrowed as he considered the politician's words for a long while before reluctantly nodded. "I guess there's nothing else we can do about it. Fine, we're still in. Now spill the news, we want to know what's up."

"My sources in Wutai contacted me yesterday." Reeves said in a more relaxed tone now that the brief hostilities were over. "They're preparing to launch an attack."

"Where are they going to strike?" Biggs asked.

"Here."

"Midgar?" Wedge sounded suitably surprised.

"That was always the plan." Reeves reminded him. "You knew it was coming one day."

"Yeah, but we heard that Sephiroth was dead." Biggs chipped in. "We kind of figured that had thrown the old plan out the window."

"Ah, that." Reeves nodded with understanding. "Well, it seems as though your old friend Cloud Strife has taken General Kagemusha's place. He and his team seem to have found a way to fight against Rufus."

"Are you sure?" Biggs sounded doubtful. "I mean, Sephiroth searched for a long time and never found anything."

"From what I hear, Sephiroth had been involved in what they were investigating." Reeves explained. "And even if he hadn't been, they've already proven that they have the means to fight. They killed Rude."

"You gotta be kidding me." Biggs stared at him, wide eyed with disbelief.

"Reno himself reported it to Rufus just this morning."

"Holy ----!" Wedge let out a whistle. "Rude was one of the top dogs!"

"I knew that damn boy had it in him." Barret couldn't help but grin. "So what do you need us to do?"

"A simple task." Reeves said as a sly smirk crossed his face. "When Wutai arrives, I need you to open the door for them."

* * *

With a hum that was nearly melodic, Elena activated the softly beeping caster sphere on her desk. As the ball spun to life, illuminating her office within the Kalm cathedral while it sent her image to Midgar, the glass screen to its left blinked on.

"Hello Elena." Rufus said as his upper body became visible on the screen, his face serene as always.

"Good afternoon, Divine Emperor." Elena smiled as she bowed her head to his image. "You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes, indeed." He said as his voice took on a darker tone. "I come bearing unfortunate news, I'm afraid."

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, realizing that anything upsetting to Rufus was dire.

"The demons that we've been battling for so long seem to have evolved." Rufus said, going straight to the point. "I have learned that a handful of them have managed to take human form."

"Are you certain?" Elena was appalled by the very thought, and also extremely worried about the possibilities of such a thing. "This would represent a terrible risk to our security."

"I'm afraid it's true." Rufus sighed. "I've learned that a small group of men and women that have been committing terrorist activities across the globe for many months now are, in fact, demons in disguise. Many of them were even former citizens of our Empire."

"I think I've heard you speak of them before. A former soldier named Cloud Strife, I believe?"

"Yes, that's the one. I had Rude following them, and he learned of their true forms." Rufus lowered his eyes and his voice became softer. "Unfortunately, the information cost him his life."

"Rude!" Elena was horrified. "But he was one of your greatest disciples! You blessed him with such awesome power!"

"Yes, I know." Rufus bowed his head, his creased brows showing the pain he felt over the loss of his friend. "So you understand what a threat these new demons pose."

"What will we do?" She asked, still bewildered by the terrible news.

"I don't know where they are now, but I believe they intend on coming here to do me harm. It's very probable that they already have agents in Midgar, disguised in this human form of theirs and waiting for their chance to strike at me."

"But surely you can stop them." Elena hopefully said. "You are the Divine Emperor!"

"That may no longer be enough. These demons have obtained terrible powers." Rufus said, shaking his head. "Their evil may have evolved to a point where they can even counter my divine gifts."

"Can this be true?" Elena held a hand to her chest in the hopes of slowing her heart rate. "What can we do to protect you?"

"I will take care of defending Midgar myself, Elena." Rufus said in a soothing voice to try and calm her. "What I ask of you is that you address the people."

"To what end?"

"In order to bring these demonic assassins to light and destroy them, I am forced to place Midgar under martial law. Tomorrow the gates will be shut and they will not be reopened until the demons in the city can be weeded out."

"Martial law?" Elena was shocked. In all the years of the Holy Shinra Empire, such a thing had never been done. To see it occurring in the capital city was unthinkable.

"I know this is not something you want to see happen, but these are dark times." Rufus seemed distressed by the idea as well. "I must act to preserve the peace. I need you to calm the people of the Empire during this process and assure them that everything will be alright, so that I can concentrate on ending this ordeal as quickly and painlessly as possible."

"It just seems so unreal." Elena's voice was distant as she stared at her desk.

"Elena, I must have your support." Rufus gently spoke to her. "You are the High Priestess, and you have stood by me for many years. If I do not have your trust, then I have already lost this battle."

"My faith in you has never wavered, Emperor." She straightened her back and brought her thoughts back into focus, her face growing determined. "If this is what we must do to keep you and the people safe, then you have my unquestioning support."

"Good." Rufus smiled at her. "I knew I could count on you, Elena. You've always been a strong woman. Now I must go, I have much to prepare for."

"Of course." Elena said, bowing her head to him. "I will ready a statement for the Caster News Network."

Rufus' image faded from the caster screen and Elena reached over to the spinning sphere and shut it off, watching as its speed slowed and its light faded. Rufus was right; she had always been strong in her faith. Ever since she was a little girl, and even more so after she became the High Priestess of the Holy Shinra Empire, she had remained steadfast. Never had she wavered in her resolve or questioned the word of her Divine Emperor. Rufus was a wise and kind man, far more than any other human being in existence, which is why he had been reborn as a god to lead their race out of darkness. Yet now, staring at the blank screen before her and thinking of the things that were about to transpire, she couldn't help but fear for the future.

* * *

As his conversation with Elena came to a close, Rufus sat back in his chair, folding his hands in front of his chest and watching as the caster sphere ceased its transmissions. Even after her image was gone, he continued to stare at the dull white screen with extreme discomfort.

"You think she bought it?" Reno asked from the shadows to his left where he'd been standing the entire time.

"Of course she did." Rufus sighed with regret. "She's always trusted me."

"Then why do you look so ----ty?"

"I don't like to lie to her." Rufus said as he shot a cold glare at him for his comment. "It doesn't feel right."

"We lie to millions of people every day." Reno shrugged it off. "What's the big deal?"

"She's not like everyone else." Rufus looked back to his desk and narrowed his eyes. "We lie to the masses so that we can keep the peace. But Elena? She's not a foolish person, and she's not a mindless zealot. She puts her faith in me because she truly believes in everything I've said."

"Well, you better get over it." Reno grumbled. "We don't have time to be feeling bad for things we can't help."

"Emperor, your guests are in the lobby." The voice of his secretary came from his desk, interrupting the very uncivilized comment he was preparing to hurl at Reno.

"Very well. Send them in." Rufus straightened himself up as Reno stepped up behind him and to his left.

In a matter of seconds the doors to the office swung open as two men stepped through and began walking towards the desk. Stopping somewhat short, both Lieutenant General Zahn and General Heidegger saluted and awaited their orders. Donned in their blue officer's suits, the two men couldn't possibly be any more different from one another. Heidegger was short and rotund while Zahn was tall and well built. Zahn was well groomed while Heidegger's mess of a beard looked as though it might contain small birds. Even their postures were opposite; Heidegger's salute and stand were lazy while Zahn's were a perfect display of military training. In fact, it was well known that Zahn was a far better military leader than Heidegger ever had been or ever could be. The only real reason why Heidegger was above him in the chain of command was because Zahn's intelligence made him more difficult to control. Heidegger, on the other hand, was a complete fool.

"At ease, officers." Rufus said to them.

"What are your orders, sir?" Heidegger's booming voice asked.

Lieutenant General Zahn remained silent, knowing full well that it was not his place to speak without permission as Heidegger had or out of turn as he would be doing if he interrupted the idiotic man.

"There is much to do, so I will be brief." Rufus said. "Midgar is in danger of an imminent attack from demons. Some may already be hiding within the city, disguised as humans. Until they can be captured and peace restored, I will be placing the city under martial law."

Heidegger seemed to want to speak up, but something stopped him. Perhaps the realization of how serious such a thing was.

"General Heidegger, you will take your men and set up blockades at all entrances and exits to the city. I want no one coming in or going out of the city until these demons have been discovered. I am authorizing you to utilize any means necessary to keep the peace; if you see any suspicious behavior, deal with it."

"Understood, sir." Heidegger saluted.

"As for you, Lieutenant General." Rufus turned to look at Zahn. "During this dangerous time I will be placing you in charge of security for this tower. I want this entire building to remain perfectly safe from attack or infiltration. To this end, you are authorized to organize your own security teams using the men and women in your Special Operations unit. Pull them from other assignments if need be. I want you to choose only the best for this."

"It will be done, Emperor." Zahn saluted as well.

"That is all. Return to your posts and prepare for your new orders. Your troops must be in place by tomorrow night. The city will be quarantined during the night to reduce the risk of delays by citizens when the martial law status is announced the following morning."

With another round of salutes, the two men turned on their heels and marched out of the room. As the door closed behind them, Reno dropped his tough guy body guard act and sat on the edge of Rufus' desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Putting Zahn in charge of security, huh?" Reno asked skeptically. "Think that's a good idea? He's a smart one; he might figure things out if he has full control over the tower."

"It's a risk, yes." Rufus admitted. "But he's the best tactician we have. If he can't keep this tower secure, no one can."

* * *

Upon leaving his briefing with Rufus, Lieutenant General Zahn parted ways with Heidegger and headed for his own office on the forty-first story of the tower. The spacious room was dark as he entered it, but the moonlight filtering in through the windows gave just enough illumination to keep him from turning on the lights. Though, even if it had been pitch black he would have known that he was not alone.

"How did it go?" Reeves asked from his seat at Zahn's desk. A direct meeting between them inside the tower itself was possible at the moment only because Rufus was so busy making preparations for the impending martial law declaration. He simply didn't have time to watch over everything as he usually would.

"As anticipated." The officer replied while he walked to a small cooler and poured himself a glass of scotch.

"When does it begin?"

"Tomorrow night." Zahn poured a second glass and brought it to Reeves.

"That's awfully sudden." Reeves said as he took the drink.

"It's not unexpected." Zahn sipped from his glass. "He certainly doesn't have all the details, but he knows that he's in danger."

"Do you think he expects Wutai to attack?"

"It's difficult to say. He knows I could mount a more effective defense of the city, but he put Heidegger in charge anyway. So perhaps he doesn't expect a full assault."

"But?"

"He may just be more concerned about the defense of this tower than the city in general. A logical move, considering the danger that a team capable of killing Rude poses to him."

"And what about us?" Reeves asked as he took a drink.

"Now that's something I can answer with certainty." Zahn smirked in the darkness. "He still doesn't completely trust me, but he expects that I'll do my job without question. I've been given authorization to hand-pick the security teams tonight, but of course I already know who I'll be using. Come tomorrow, this tower will be filled with soldiers loyal to me, not Rufus."

"Mainly from Special Operations, I'm sure?"

"Most of them, yes." Zahn nodded as he looked out the window to the city below. "I don't want my best soldiers to be killed in the actual fight down there. I'll need them once Rufus is gone, so I can't risk losing them to a simple distraction."

"And you're confident that you can 'secure' this tower like we need it to be?"

"Don't worry about it, Reeves." A sly smile crossed Zahn's pale lips. "Everything is under control."

* * *

In the mountains of the Republic of Wutai, the sky was turned brown and green as a massive fleet of airships took flight. The western coast of the ocean was a similar scene as boats filled with soldiers headed into the seas. Amidst one of the largest military deployment in the history of this nation, a single airship devoid of any paint and sparkling purely from the silver color of the iron and steel it was forged from rose out of the mountains. Larger and faster than even the mighty Wutai carriers, the fully, albeit hastily, repaired Highwind rose above them and soared ahead.

For the first time since it had been stolen from the Shinra base near Rocket, the Highwind had a full and capable crew composed of its usual passengers as well as Wutai technicians and soldiers. On the bridge, Cid and Sherra flew the ship and directed their Wutai assistants as Colonel Miyama and the young assassin, Yuffie, looked on.

Standing on the deck, strangely comforted by the massive materia cannons found there, Vincent and Jessie stood together with their hands and arms braced against the airships railing as they watched the Wutai airships mix with the night time stars.

Truly alone in both appearance and mind set, Nanaki sat alone in one of the crew quarters, his legs crossed beneath him on the small and not entirely comfortable cot as he closed his eyes and let the will of the lifestream bring him peace in this time of fear and uncertainty.

Cloud and Tifa sat on opposite ends of the otherwise empty crew lounge, remembering the last time that all of them had been together in this room before death had stolen away members of their party.

No matter where they were, everyone was thinking the same things, and everyone was mentally preparing themselves for what lay ahead of them. This would be the first and last offensive against the might of the Holy Shinra Empire. While Wutai attacked the city to distract the armies stationed there, their small team would infiltrate the tower and settle things with Rufus. One way or the other, today would be the beginning of the end of the war. If they succeeded, Rufus would no longer be able to lie to and manipulate the world. If they failed, Wutai would be far too crushed to ever stand up to Shinra again and there would be no one left with the weapons or means to challenge Rufus' supremacy.

There was little talking on the Highwind. Everyone was in their own world, wondering and perhaps even praying about the future. Even those who were standing along side of others they knew and cared for said nothing. Words could not express what they were all thinking, so they chose to remain quiet. The tension was too thick to be cut with mere words.

Looking up and across the crew lounge, Cloud Strife found himself staring at Tifa. For his entire life he'd known her. They'd grown up together; they'd shared more experiences than he could possibly remember. It was rare for them to even be apart. Yet now, looking at the beautiful young girl who sat with her head in her hands, clearly trying to steady herself, Cloud thought about what they were about to undertake.

He looked away, his eyes searching the room for something to take his mind off of what had just occurred to him, but there was nothing here to look at except for her. Internally, he struggled with his feelings; the same struggle that he'd had for years now, only now much more intense. He'd always felt that it would be better to keep her from finding out, but this could very well be their final moments together, and he realized that she deserved the truth. At long last, and with a great amount of fear in his heart, he stood from his seat and walked across the lounge to her.

Tifa looked up as he sat down next to her, tucking her hair behind her ears from where it had fallen into her face. As she looked at him, her eyes were filled with worry. Perhaps she was thinking about the same thing that he was.

"Tifa, I-" Cloud cut off as he realized his voice was off. Pausing to breathe and clear his throat, he steadied himself and tried again. "We need to talk."

"What about?" She asked with the hint of a sniffle in her voice.

"Well. You know." Cloud let out a short sigh and leaned forward in his chair, bowing his head down and avoiding eye contact with her. He was a near fearless warrior, but the thoughts swimming in his head right now were scaring the hell out of him. "Stuff."

"I'm afraid, Cloud." Tifa said it for him, her voice slightly quivering. "We've done a lot that was dangerous, but never anything like this before."

"Yeah." He said in a soft voice. "I know. There's a good chance we may not make it out of this alive."

"I don't want to lose you." Tifa stammered as tears began to form in her eyes, her emotions uncontrollable. "I don't know how I'd live without you."

"I know, Tifa." Cloud said, taking another deep breath to try and steady his own voice. "It's not an easy thing to think about."

"Listen, I know you don't want to talk about this, but we may not have another chance." Tifa sniffled. "Back in Corel-"

"I've always known how you felt." Cloud cut her off, knowing exactly what she was going to say. He focused his eyes on the floor, intent on not looking at her if he could avoid it. "I just didn't want to hurt you, Tifa."

"Hurt me?" Tifa wiped at her eyes. "What do you think that did to me, make me feel better?"

"No. I know that hurt you. That's not what I meant." Cloud sighed, stumbling on his words.

"Then what did you mean?"

"I don't know." Cloud paused for a long moment to gather his thoughts. "I'm not a great person, Tifa. I'm vengeful, I'm reckless, and I'm a failure."

"What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't stop Sephiroth from destroying Nibelheim." Cloud said as his eyebrows creased from the painful memories. "I tried, but I was too weak, and everyone I loved died because of that weakness. When I finally returned to Midgar, you were the only thing I had left in the world."

"You barely talked to me when you came back." Tifa murmured. "You acted like you didn't want to be around me."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you. I was scared. I was scared that you would blame me for what happened; that I might lose the only person I had left."

"I never blamed you, Cloud." Tifa said as tears began slowly rolling down her soft cheeks. "It wasn't your fault. You tried to stop him, just because you couldn't doesn't make it your responsibility."

"Maybe." Cloud said quietly. "But I couldn't shake the feeling. I was so scared of losing you that even after we started talking again, I pushed my feelings away, even knowing what you wanted."

"What are you saying?" Tifa sniffled.

"Tifa-" The words caught in his throat. He'd never been the shy type, but he was finding this to be one of the most difficult things he'd ever done in his life. Even above riding on top of an enraged young Midgar Zolom.

"Just say it, Cloud." Tifa pleaded. "I need to know what you feel."

At those words, he could no longer avoid looking at her. Turning his head, he gazed into her deep brown eyes, and let out a quiet sigh. "I love you, Tifa. I guess in a way, I always have."

With that admission, Tifa's slow tears instantly burst into a fountain. Her brows creased as a mixture of elation and misery crossed her delicate features. "Then why do you always push me away?"

"I'm not good enough for you, Tifa." Cloud said, his face displaying the anguish he was feeling.

"But you're good enough for Aerith, is that it?" Tifa snapped as the tears continued to pour.

"What?" Cloud's eyes darted back to hers. He didn't understand that sudden accusation. "What are you talking about? Aerith is a great person, yeah, but she's only a friend."

"You were so happy around her in Wutai." Tifa cried, putting her hands to her face. "She told me she liked you, I just thought.."

"No. No, no." Feeling intensely bad for her, Cloud suddenly reached over and wrapped his arms around her. Pulled to him, Tifa buried her face in his chest and shuddered. "There was never anything between me and Aerith. I promise you."

"If there's no one else, then why can't you just love me?" Tifa cried.

"I do, Tifa." Cloud cradled her as he felt her body shake. "I've always been so worried that if I let it become something I'd just end up hurting you in the end."

"And what do you think you're doing by pushing me away?" She choked out. "My feelings about you aren't going to change just because you try to deny them, Cloud! How could you do this to me?"

"I'm sorry, Tifa." Cloud said with complete honesty. "I'm just stupid, I can't help it. I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear."

"Why are you telling me all of this now?" Tifa's voice was muffled by his shirt.

"We may not make it out of this alive." Cloud said as he gently pulled her up so he could see her face. "I didn't want to go and die without ever telling you. You deserve better than that. I've been such an idiot for so long, but if we make it out of this alive, I swear that's going to change."

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked, her lips trembling.

As an answer, he leaned his head down and pressed his lips to hers. Tifa's eyes went wide at the unexpected move, but then slid shut as she accepted and returned the action, her arms hugging around Cloud's chest tightly. After what seemed like an eternity the kiss ended. Tifa laid her head on his shoulder and continued to quietly cry from a mishmash of emotions. Cloud held her close to him and leaned his cheek on the top of her head, hoping against hope that they would survive to see tomorrow together.

* * *

No matter the time, Midgar always seemed to have enough lights for people to get around with little trouble. On this night, while soldiers were on the move and plans to barricade the city's many gates were made in secret, most of the citizens were making their way back to their homes, or to their places of twilight employment. Among the low amounts of traffic and pedestrian's heading in every direction, one girl in particular stood out from the rest. Clad in a simple, sleeveless violet dress that was buttoned from midway down her legs to just above the tops of her breast, Aerith Gainsborough walked towards the high rising Shinra Imperial Government Tower in as relaxed a fashion as she could manage.

It had been surprisingly easy for her to make it to the Imperial capital. As Bugenhagen had told her, the back caves of Cosmo Canyon had brought her just outside of a small village called Gonzaga. After a brief stop there for directions, she'd taken the buggy that she'd been given to Costa Del Sol to buy passage to Junon on a cargo ship. Once on Midgar's continent, she'd driven the buggy all the way across the mountains and straight into the city where she'd abandoned the vehicle on a curb just hours earlier. Not even once had she been stopped or questioned during the entire trip. After all, she was just a pretty young girl; hardly someone who would be considered a threat to the very core of the Holy Shinra Empire.

As she approached the tall tower, Aerith reached to the back of her hair and touched the smooth surface of the Holy orb in her ribbon, uttering a silent prayer for strength as she did so. She'd thought about how she would go about getting into the tower the entire time she'd been heading here. She knew of only one person, really only a name, that could help her, and so she had at last come to a single, simple conclusion.

She would knock.

The soldiers guarding the entrance to the tower paid her no mind as she stepped up to the glass doors that slid open for her. The building was bustling with activity, even this late at night, so she wasn't greeted with suspicion. With a single glance around the massive lobby that made up most of the first floor, she walked to an enormous reception desk at the center of the room where several men and women were helping visitors.

"Excuse me." Aerith said to a blond haired woman as she placed her hands on the desk and smiled at the receptionist. "I was wondering if you could help me. I'm looking for some one."

"Certainly ma'am." The receptionist smiled back at her. "Who do you need?"

"A politician who works here. His name is Reeves."

"Well, this is a little late for him to have any appointments scheduled." The woman said. "Is he expecting you?"

"Yes, I believe so." Aerith smiled and nodded. "Could you please just tell him that a friend is here to see him? I'm sure he'll know who it is."

Knock, knock.


	12. Chapter XII Dancing Mad

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for chapter XIII.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter XII

Dancing Mad

In less than an hour the sun would be coming up. By now, those who were awake at this hour had heard about the terrible news that Midgar would be placed under martial law, and that there were demons hiding among them. Throughout the entire city there was an unnerving silence as citizens watched entire battalions of Shinra soldiers marching through the streets. It was like some sort of nightmare; a flashback to the horrible days of war and occupation before Rufus had founded the Holy Shinra Empire.

Fitting to the depression sweeping over the city, it began to rain. As the dark gray storm clouds gathered overhead, a light drizzle turned into a torrential downpour that dampened the city's spirits even further.

Amidst this untimely and saddening weather, three men donned in dark green cloaks darted through the shadows of Sector Seven. Dropping down behind a storefront sign, Barret Wallace waited for a small group of soldiers to march past. Bringing up his right hand, still covered in that long black glove, he signaled to Biggs and Wedge who were across the street and they moved forward again, drawing ever closer to Sector Seven's massive gate.

Though heavily guarded both on the outside and inside of the city, the blockade of Shinra soldiers was far enough away from the gate for the trio to sneak around using back alleys and parked vehicles for cover. The heavy rain also helped hide them from prying eyes as they quickly and efficiently placed several explosive charges that Jessie had left for them months ago on the edges of the gate.

Not bothering to double check the charges when they finished, the three of them hurried a safe distance away and hid in separate spots. They were each carrying a detonation remote to ensure that someone would set off the explosives even if one of them were caught. Now all they had to do was await the signal from Colonel Miyama.

For nearly thirty minutes Barret sat crouched behind a crate to the west of the barricade as he waited for his orders to strike. Thunder and lightning boomed through the night sky so loudly that the ground beneath his feet shook slightly. Then, after just a few short seconds, the ground shook again, but this time there was no lightning in the sky. Noticing the odd behavior, Barret sunk a bit lower as the ground shook again, the sound coming closer as the rumble grew larger. Though on a larger scale than he was used to, there was no mistaking the pattern of those sounds; they were footsteps.

With a flash, a bright light snapped on and centered over his crate. Shocked, Barret whirled around, looking for the source of the light that had just given his location away, and found himself staring up at an enormous machine. The experimental MagiTek armor that Scarlett had created loomed over top of him, standing every bit as tall and as intimidating as when Vincent and Jessie had encountered it. Regrettably, it now seemed to be fully armed, as the enormous materia enhancing domes built into its palms and on its chest showed. Its sheer height had allowed its pilot to spot him hiding behind the crate from up above.

"Well, well, well." An accented voice came booming from the MagiTek armor. "If it isn't Barret Wallace! I had begun to think you had left our little city in peace."

"You think a lot of dumb things, General Heidegger." Barret responded as he stood up. There wasn't much of a point in hiding now that he was swiftly being surrounded by Shinra soldiers, and even one or two Turks that he had spotted from the shadows.

"Disrespectful until the end." Heidegger laughed, his voice slightly echoing from the MagiTek armors speakers. "What an idiotic way for the leader of the infamous Avalanche to be captured, sneaking around a well guarded blockade that would not be nearly so combustible as one of our fine buildings."

"Yeah, well. You know, I'm just a sucker for a party, so I thought I'd come down and hang out with you guys."

"Seth, Virgil." Heidegger called to the two Turks who each had their materia guns carefully trained on Barret's chest. "Search the area. See if his little friends are around."

The Turks had taken less than three steps when a chirp came from Barret's pant pocket. Immediately, their guns were pointed at him again, as were the swords of all the Shinra soldiers standing around him.

"Don't shoot!" Heidegger shouted in a panic as he thought about who he was dealing with. "He is a terrorist; he could have explosives on him!"

"Are you afraid to die, Heidegger?" Barret asked with a grin as he saw Biggs give him the universal signal for 'okay' from his hiding spot across the street and behind the MagiTek armor.

"Don't be absurd." Heidegger snorted. "You should be asking yourself that question, as you are the one who is about to face his demise. I imagine you will be a fine trophy to offer the Emperor."

"I'm afraid you're not gonna get that chance." Barret said as he watched Bigg's trigger the detonation.

With several loud whoomps, the explosives along the outskirts of the gate ignited, sending a wave of heat and force flying through the blockade. Knowing what was coming, Barret managed to duck behind his crate again as the Shinra soldiers panicked, only to be struck moments later by flames and debris. At least one of the two Turks went down along with several soldiers, and even Heidegger's impressive suit of armor stumbled back several steps. When the deafening noise passed, the Sector Seven gate had been blown off of its hinges. The massive iron door collapsed into two halves, the first of which fell over top the Shinra blockade, killing a few more soldiers and flattening a large amount of equipment.

Using the moment of confusion to his advantage, Barret sprinted from his hiding spot to where Biggs was. Wedge joined them moments later and the three of them prepared to make a run for it until one heavy foot of the MagiTek armor slammed down in front of them.

"And just what did you expect that to accomplish besides angering me!" Heidegger roared from inside the armors cockpit.

"More than you'd think, fat ass!" Biggs shouted as he spat on the armored leg.

Wordlessly, Heidegger grunted and pulled back a lever, causing one of the MagiTek armor's hands to rise into the air, aimed towards them. The materia magnifier on its palm began to glow, blue wisps of light escaping as it charged up, preparing to destroy them. The blast never came, as a sudden gust of wind swarmed past them. The area was briefly engulfed in a massive shadow, before being illuminated by a rain of multicolored, magical beams. The armor staggered under the assault, but despite Heidegger's best efforts, it was unable to remain on its feet. The metallic giant fell to the ground with a thundering crash, though that was virtually drowned out by the booming of materia cannons. The first of Wutai's airships had arrived.

Shouts and screams of panic erupted from the remaining Shinra soldiers as the magic being fired down at them tore many of them to bits. The blasts only grew in number as more and more airships appeared overhead. The sudden storm had apparently turned out to be quite a lucky break; the rain and the clouds had stopped any of Midgar's tower defenses from spotting the incoming attack. Dozens of Wutai soldiers started to drop from rope ladders that were coming from the low flying airships and with a series of war cries, they assaulted any remaining Shinra soldiers in the vicinity.

Barret, Biggs, and Wedge joined the Wutai men and women in their endeavor just as a platoon of Shinra troops arrived and began to sprint towards the invaders. The two sides collided with earsplitting clashes of steel, and the gut wrenching sounds of impalement. Within mere minutes there were hundreds of soldiers from the two warring parties hacking and slashing at one another in the once peaceful streets of Sector Seven. Men and women fell to the ground, crying out in pain as thick pools of blood mixed with the rain, staining the ground a watery red. The battle of Midgar had commenced.

* * *

With Shinra's soldiers spread out all over the city in preparation to enforce the martial law, and with the element of surprise on their side, the soldiers of Wutai were rapidly gaining ground. Far behind the fleet of airships that had carried the advance troops, Wutai's boats began to land on the coastline, unloading the brunt of the invasion forces. Soon their small foothold would triple in numbers, and the confused Shinra soldiers would have a very difficult time organizing a counter attack strong enough to drive them out.

As the night sky erupted with lightning, the silver streak that was the Highwind broke through the storm clouds and dove towards the city of Midgar where the battle was growing fiercer by the minute. As the great ship came dangerously close to the ground the landing ramp dropped down, smashing a Shinra soldier into a pulp as several men and women stormed down and into the fray. With its load dropped, the Highwind lifted back into the air with only Cid, Sherra, and its temporary Wutai crew staying aboard.

The party instantly found themselves in the middle of chaos; a battle the likes of which had not been seen since the founding of the Holy Shinra Empire. With a swing of his Buster Sword, Cloud crushed in the head of an incoming soldier. Hopping to her left, Tifa struck a brutishly large corporal in the throat, sending him stumbling before she drove her knee into his nose. Nanaki, once again disguised as a human, leapt on top of a female Turk and drove his dagger deep into her heart. Combining their ranged attacks, Vincent and Jessie took out a group of eight incoming Shinra troops with lethal shots and a single grenade. With rapid flicks of her wrist, Yuffie sent several throwing stars into a Turk sniper who was taking aim from a rooftop. Colonel Miyama proved that she was more than just a tactician by catching the dead Turks materia gun and using it to shoot two Shinra grenadiers in the heads before they could hurl explosives.

"Watch out!" screamed one of the Wutai soldiers near them just before he was blasted into oblivion by an enormous beam of magical energy.

Whirling about to see where the attack had come from, the party saw Heidegger's MagiTek armor barreling down on them, swatting an unfortunate Shinra soldier out of its path as it went. They unleashed their fury at the mechanical suit, sending materia blasts, magical spells, and explosives flying at it, but the attacks mostly bounced off its thick hull. The group began to scatter, realizing that they weren't going to stop it before it would reach them, when the hulking form of Barret Wallace leapt in front of them. With a roaring battle cry, the dark-skinned man reached up to the top of his right arm and peeled the heavy black glove from it.

A single glance at his lower arm and hand made it clear that Shinra had indeed used him as a lab rat in their twisted experiments. Metal strips, wiring, and materia orbs were surgically embedded beneath his flesh and the limb pulsated, emitting an eerie red glow. Raising the malformed arm, Barret aimed his palm at the swiftly approaching MagiTek. A blast of magical power was let loose from his hand, shaking the area and actually pushed him back several feet. The powerful ray smashed squarely into the MagiTek armor's torso and sent it crashing through a building wall. While it wasn't enough to destroy the machine, it would at least make Heidegger think twice about coming near them again.

"Barret!" Jessie shouted as she ran towards her old boss. As the man pulled his glove over the freakish appendage once more to regain control over its power, Jessie threw herself at him, hugging his muscled frame as best she could.

"Hey there, girl!" Barret laughed and briefly returned the hug before pulling her off and sending a heavy punch with his gloved fist into an approaching Shinra guard. The impact and the magical shockwave that followed sent the man crashing into a nearby dumpster with a series of terrible snaps.

"Right." Jessie chuckled nervously as she looked at the dead soldier. "Better save the greetings for later, huh?"

"Cloud, take your team and get moving!" Miyama shouted at him as she signaled several of her soldiers to clear a path for them. "Remember; find Reeves on the thirty-fifth floor! He'll be waiting for you there!"

"We'll take care of things here!" Yuffie yelled as she ran up alongside of Barret and another squad of Wutai soldiers that were about to charge into a new wave of Shinra troops. "I hope you find Aerith on your way! Good luck!"

"You too!" Cloud shouted back as he signaled the others and began running towards the center of Midgar, to the Shinra Imperial Government tower where Aerith had undoubtedly headed, and where this conflict would come to an end.

* * *

Rufus had just sat down to eat when the noise began. What started as a series of small explosions had grown into a sea of shouts and the clashing of weapons; the sounds of war. Throwing his eating utensils down, he hurried out of his small dining area and into the main section of his office suite. Reno was already there, waving for him to come to the windows.

"You have to see this." The Turk said in an agitated tone.

Stepping up next to him, Rufus was horrified at the scene in the city below. A fleet of airships were consuming the skies and the Sector Seven gates had been decimated, paving way for an invasion of soldiers.

"Wutai?" Rufus asked, though it was rhetorical. There was no one else who opposed the Empire, after all.

"That's not all." Reno grimly said as he pointed out the silver shape of the Highwind among the Wutai airships.

"So this is how it comes to us." Rufus narrowed his eyes as his lips curled with anger. "After all our planning it comes down to this; a fight at our very doorstep."

"What should I do, boss?"

"Go down and join the fight." Rufus said through gritted teeth. "Make them suffer for this."

"What about you?" Reno hesitated. "Are you sure you want to be alone?"

"Zahn has already reorganized the towers defenses. It would take the brunt of these invaders to reach me. Assist our apparently inept soldiers and see to it that they don't even get the chance."

"What if Cloud and his buddies manage to sneak through?"

"Then I will personally take care of them." Rufus' demeanor darkened further. "Whether they die in the streets or by my own hands in this very room, this will end tonight."

* * *

The attack on Midgar had begun when she and her escort had been halfway to the floor that Reeves office was on. The news of the battle, which had been broadcast through the tower, had given pause to her trip as panic spread through the civilians within the building. In fact, she had been prepared to simply ask the woman who was walking with her for directions so she could get there on her own when several Shinra soldiers had arrived and told them to exit the tower in an orderly fashion. For a moment she'd been severely worried that she was going to have to fight them, but upon mentioning that Reeves was expecting her, the soldiers had escorted her the rest of the way.

Seating herself on the edge of a couch in Reeve's comfortable little office, Aerith Gainsborough reached up into her dress and pulled a metal cylinder about a foot in length from where she'd attached it to her thigh. Bringing the green gem studded object out in front of her, she pressed a small button in its center, and with a snap it extended out in both directions, stopping twice to click into place as it elongated into a mage's staff. Bugenhagen had given it to her before she'd left Cosmo Canyon. The elder Cetra had said it would help her control her magic, which was still mostly unfocused.

"You are either the bravest woman I've ever met, or the most foolish." Reeves said as he paced back and forth in front of his desk. "I'm having a very hard time deciding which."

"I'm sorry." Aerith smiled up to him. "It seemed to be the simplest way of reaching you. If I had tried to fight my way in, I'd never have made it. Besides, it seems to have worked. I'm not a very suspicious looking person."

"No, but you're also incredibly lucky." Reeves shook his head at the crazy girl. "If Rufus wasn't preparing to declare martial law in a few hours, he'd have noticed your presence. He's always notified of unusual visitors, especially those who don't even have a business appointment."

"My ancestors watch over me from their place in the lifestream." Aerith said as she stood up and banged her rod on the floor to make sure its moving parts had properly locked in place.

"Maybe they do." Reeves grunted. "Had you shown up just a few hours later than you did, you wouldn't have been allowed in the city and Wutai's operation might not be under way."

"I'm just glad that those soldiers of yours found me, or I would have had a lot of trouble getting to you."

"They weren't my soldiers." Reeves said as a button on his desk began blinking. Walking over to it, he pressed it down and was greeted by a calm voice that informed him that more "visitors" were approaching the tower. Without responding to the news, he turned back to Aerith and set his jaws in determination. "Alright, here's what I need you to do."

* * *

As they approached the sparkling glass doors of the towers first floor, Cloud was struck by the dreaded feeling that this was happening far too easily. Since breaking away from Sector Seven they'd seen very little resistance, though that much was to be expected; after all, most of Shinra's soldiers were hurrying to fight Wutai, not to search for a five-person team that was hiding in the shadows. However, the entrance to the tower was a different matter. As the rain continued to pour down on their heads, they scanned the area for opposition but found none. There appeared to be no guards outside and there was little visible movement in the lobby.

"Well?" Jessie broke the silence. "What do we do?"

"The lack of guards is unnatural." Vincent stated. "It could very well be a trap."

"We won't know until we try." Cloud set his jaw. "Let's bust on in."

Wordlessly they ran from their cover and to the tower doors, ducking low as they went. With a quiet swish the doors slid open for them and they dashed inside, bringing up their weapons and searching for cover right away, but there was nothing to be seen.

"What the hell is going on?" Tifa asked.

"Perhaps they have evacuated the tower due to the attack." Nanaki offered.

"That's plausible." Cloud admitted. "But only for civilians. Where are all the guards?"

"Right there." Vincent calmly said as he brought his gun up and began firing at a massive flight of stairs where several soldiers had been heading down into the lobby. With timely and probably lucky ducks, the two men and one woman managed to slide behind a large statue of Rufus placed on a break in the steps just in time to avoid their would be deaths.

"Vincent, keep your gun trained." Cloud whispered orders. "Jessie, Nanaki, you two go on the right side of the reception desk. Tifa and I will go to the left. We'll get them in a pincer attack."

With nods all around they all headed to their designated positions. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, Cloud made his way around the desk and slowly up the central stairs of the lobby. The base of the statue, a large square stone with potted plants set up around it, was no more than fifteen feet ahead of him. From the corner of his eyes he could see Jessie and Nanaki across from him as they too approached the hapless soldiers.

"Cloud Strife?" One of the Shinra soldiers asked from his hiding spot behind the statue. "This is Sergeant Vicks of the Shinra Special Operations unit."

The question about his identity, and the subsequent revelation of one of theirs, caused him to halt in his steps. From across the lobby he hadn't been able to recognize the man, but Vicks was one of most skilled members of Special Ops from back when Cloud and Zach had been in it. Taking a risk, Cloud signaled the others to hold back for a moment. He wasn't sure what this was leading to, but he wanted to find out before a fight started.

"I'm going to assume your lack of response to be a yes." Vicks continued. "We didn't come down here to fight you, so would you mind calling off your attack?"

"That wouldn't be a very smart tactic for me, given the situation, sergeant." Cloud said back to him as he looked around the room once more for other soldiers. There had to be something going on here.

"If this were normal circumstances you'd be right, but they're not. We're here to take you to Reeves."

The mention of their contacts name caused Cloud to look over his shoulder to Tifa, but she was just as surprised as he was and offered little help in making a decision. The same went for the others, though a nod from Vincent indicated that he should at least check it out.

"How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"Well, for one thing, if I wasn't on your side then I wouldn't know who your contact was. Plus I know that your friend, Aerith, has already visited him."

His eyes went wide at the mention of Aerith's name, and he breathed a guarded sigh of relief. If Vicks was being truthful with them, that meant she was okay. Cloud looked back to Tifa again and received a nod. It seemed doubtful that this was a lie. If Vicks knew about their contact but was still loyal to Rufus, Reeves would be dead and Wutai's invasion would have been met with a very fierce resistance rather than scattered soldiers.

"Alright." Cloud said after a moment of thought and nods from the rest of the party. "Then lead the way."

* * *

Sergeant Vicks and his two soldiers led them up many flights of stairs with no opposition whatsoever. When they arrived at what was apparently Reeves office, Vicks ushered them inside and then left them alone. As the door clicked shut behind them, the party looked to a man who was sitting on the edge of a desk.

"You're Reeves?" Tifa asked.

"That's right." He nodded. "It's good to finally meet you all."

"Where's Aerith?" Jessie asked as she looked around the room. "Those guys told us she was here."

"She was." He nodded again. "I gave her special instructions for the remainder of her time here in the tower. You'll be joining her shortly."

"Sorry to be rude in our first meeting with each other and all." Cloud muttered as he stepped past the others and looked to Reeves. "But just what the hell is going on here?"

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that." Reeves raised an eyebrow.

"You're a politician. I was under the impression that you had no say in military matters, so how is it that you seem to have all the soldiers in this tower in your pocket? There's no way we could have made it all the way up here without a single confrontation without some one pulling the strings."

"Not all the soldiers in the tower are in on it. Just the majority of the ones you'll be passing by." Reeves corrected him. "And they're not reporting to me, per se."

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked with suspicion.

"They report to Lieutenant General Zahn." Reeves looked to Cloud. "A name I believe you're familiar with."

"My old commander from when I was in Special Ops." Cloud nodded. "Where does he play into all of this?"

"Zahn became involved almost two years ago. He's been instrumental in bringing us to where we are now."

"Why? What's in it for him?"

"His plan is to assume control of the Empire when Rufus is gone."

"That's not possible." Jessie scoffed. "He's not in the position to do that. Even if the Empire doesn't outright crumble without Rufus, it'd fall to High Priestess Elena and the church to lead, not the military."

"Theoretically, yes. But Zahn's turned out to be nearly as skilled at manipulation as Rufus is."

"What does he plan to do?" Tifa asked.

"Working with me, he knew that Wutai would lead the charge here today. Zahn plans to publicly blame Rufus' death on them and Avalanche. He'll use the Empire's outcry to mount a holy crusade against Wutai. He thinks that the Empire's citizens will rally behind him as a hero to crush the people who killed their god."

"And in doing so he would gain the favor of the entire Empire." Vincent concluded for him. "Which would put him in the perfect place to assume control, even over the church."

"Exactly."

"And you're helping him!" Cloud became enraged at this new information. "He'll destroy Wutai!"

"Calm down." Reeves said, motioning with his hands for him to be quiet. "I have no intention of letting Zahn take control. He was just a means for us to reach our goal easier."

"Then you believe his plan is flawed?" Nanaki questioned.

"No. Zahn is a brilliant tactician. If he believes it will work, it probably will. But I have something in store that will effectively wreck his plans."

"Does Wutai know about any of this?" Jessie asked.

"No." Reeves shook his head. "It's too dangerous for me to contact them about it. Zahn would find out, and that would be the end of it. Wutai doesn't even know he's involved at all."

"I don't like this." Cloud voiced their feelings. "I don't want to see Rufus fall only to be replaced by a dictator."

"Nor do I. That's why I assure you I will not let it happen."

"I guess there's nothing we could do about it by now anyway, huh?" Tifa fumed.

"I'm afraid not, and if you don't hurry you won't even get the chance to stop Rufus to begin with."

"Right." Cloud said as he ground his teeth together and regained his focus. This could very well be their only chance to strike at the Emperor and they had to use it no matter the cost. "What do we do?"

"I had Miyama send you here so I could direct you to another weapon. Mentioning its location in any messages would be far too dangerous."

"A weapon?" Nanaki asked with sudden interest. "Do you mean the Atma Ray?"

"Yes." Reeves said, sounding surprised. "How did you know about it?"

"This was where the temple that held it once stood." Nanaki spoke as if Reeves were stupid. "And there is no other weapon that would be of any use in this fight. It was only logical to assume."

"He's Cetra." Cloud added to help ease Reeves discomfort.

"Ah. Well, that would make sense then."

"How is the Atma Ray different from my Claws?" Tifa asked.

"It is an energy based projectile weapon." Nanaki told her.

"A gun?" Vincent asked in surprise.

"Yes." Reeves nodded. "Its design was the basis for the materia guns that the Turks use today. A lot of our other technologies were developed from it as well."

"Where is it?" Cloud asked.

"Floor forty-seven. That's the Magic and Technology Research Division's first branch."

"Hojo." Vincent hissed through suddenly clenched teeth.

"Yes." Reeves confirmed. "He'll most likely be there."

"Well, Vincent." Cloud looked to the 'abomination'. "Looks like you get your chance for revenge after all."

"Indeed." He replied in a menacing growl. "Was there ever a doubt?"

"No." Cloud winced at the harsh tone. "I guess not."

* * *

Floor forty-five of the tower acted as an enormous checkpoint. All staircases that had led up this far ended here, and only those with very high clearance were allowed to use the single set of stairs that ascended the remainder of the tower. The normal guards here had been replaced by Zahn's soldiers, so they were allowed to pass through with no trouble.

As Reeves had warned them, the entrance to the forty-seventh floor was devoid of Zahn's men. The Magic and Technology Research Division had its own guards constantly on duty here. The door that opened into the floor from the staircase was secured by five soldiers in white uniforms, but that didn't matter; Vincent was very eager. Before they could make any formal plans of attack the inhuman man lost his patience and leapt up the stairs to the soldiers before any one could even think of stopping him.

None of them saw what happened. By the time the rest of them had ran up the stairs the screams had already subsided and all they found were mutilated bodies and an open door. Knowing that they had no real choice but to follow, they all ran through the door and sprinted after Vincent as he stalked the hallways for his prey.

The research centers first branch was littered with offices and large experiment chambers. Odd contraptions and unfinished projects the likes of which they'd never seen before were almost everywhere they looked. Notably missing were the Mako Demons created in other branches, but that wasn't all too surprising. It would be reckless to have any of those dirty little secrets present in a building with such heavy traffic.

Despite his practically frothing demand for vengeance, Vincent tended to stay on the path that Reeves had laid out for them, culminating in the discovery of a large and vaguely oval room with a great deal of materia-powered machinery in it. Barely visible at the center of the room, due to the clutter of unidentifiable objects, was a large tube made of glass and metal that was jutting from a humming mound of wires and moving parts. Inside of the tube, suspended in the air by some unseen force, was the Atma Ray. Composed of the same materials as the Atma Claws, it was obvious that the Turks materia guns were crude copies of this sleek and smooth weapon.

Though they expected to be ambushed at any moment, nothing happened as they approached the large cylinder. Not bothering to search for an opening, Vincent slammed his gauntlet through and pulled the Atma Ray out of its shattered container. Just like the Claws, the Ray was lighter than it seemed it should be, and Vincent was just about to slide it into his belt when a shadow to his left leapt out at him and knocked him onto his back. Vincent flipped back, throwing the enormous form of Kuro Koka off of him. The dark furred feline landed on all fours, growling loudly as Hojo stepped out of the darkness behind it. Everyone began brandishing their weapons until Vincent cut them off by latching onto the former holding place of the Atma Ray and ripping the machinery out of the ground with his bare hands. With a heavy crunch, he reduced it to nothing more than a jagged pile of metal in front of him that erupted into flames as he shot several rounds of fire into it from his materia gun.

"What are you doing!" Cloud shouted over the sudden noise as he squinted his eyes through the fire that now separated them from Hojo and Kuro.

"Go." Vincent said in a sinister tone as he thrust the Atma Ray into Jessie's hands; she was the only one out of their group other than him who had even held a gun of any kind. "This is my fight! Not yours!"

"No!" Jessie said firmly as she looked the tall man in the eyes. "We're not leaving you behind! We're a team!"

"You will!" He growled at her as he returned her determined stare. "I must face my past! This is the only way I can go on!"

"But we can help you!" Tifa pleaded.

"You have no time!" Vincent shouted at them. "You have to face Rufus!"

"Are you going to be alright by yourself?" Cloud asked, knowing full well it was useless to argue. Vincent had made up his mind, and as a man who wanted revenge himself, he understood.

"I do not intend on dying here. Now go! You have little time!"

Cloud nodded and Nanaki bowed his head in respect for his fellow warrior before the two of them turned back the way they'd come. There was a moment of hesitation for the Tifa, but she too knew that there was no way to change his mind.

"You be careful." Tifa said at last as she hugged his shoulders. "We'll see you soon."

She headed off after Cloud and Nanaki, but Jessie had no intention of leaving; it was clear from her expression as she stood there and stared at the tall, pale man. Not wanting to waste time with words, Vincent turned away and prepared to head across the flaming debris to face his maker.

"I can't just leave you here alone!" Jessie shouted at him in desperation.

Stopping in mid stride, Vincent turned and looked to her over his shoulder. Sighing quietly, he stepped back to her and bent down to look her in the eyes as he placed his hands on her arms.

"I have to do this alone, Jessie." He said in a soft voice that seemed totally unnatural for him. "You know me better than any of the others. You have to understand this."

"Why can't I help you?" She asked, her voice dropping noticeably.

"You already have." He replied. "You've brought me back in touch with emotions that I thought were dead, and for that I am truly grateful. But if I do not do this now, it will haunt me forever, and I will never be able to break free of the burden I carry."

"You'll come back?" Jessie asked as a strange look of sorrow crossed her face. "Right?"

"I will." Vincent said, his tone implying that he truly meant it. "I swear."

"Good luck." She wrapped her arms around his thin sides in a fierce hug that seemed to last an eternity. Moments later, when she released him, she turned and ran towards the stairs where the others would be waiting as fast as she could, never once looking back.

* * *

The four Turks that were guarding the lobby of the forty-ninth floor didn't have a chance. The normally skillful assassins were taken completely by surprise as Cloud, Tifa, Jessie, and Nanaki stormed out of the main stairwell with weapons at the ready. The first two Turks, who were standing together, went down from a single, wide arcing swing of Cloud's Buster Sword that shattered a multitude of bones upon impact. The third was met by a series of sharp jabs from Tifa's lightning fists that crushed her wind pipe. The last of the four Turks managed to whip out his gun and fire a lone shot right about the time his partners bodies were landing on the ground, but it flew wild as Jessie tackled him to the floor and slit his throat with a quick slash of her combat knife.

The battle, if it could be called that, had taken only fifteen seconds, and the last possible resistance between them and their destination had been eradicated. An impressive set of curving stairs climbed the east and west walls of the large reception room and met together at the top to form a small platform that was lavishly decorated with sculptures and paintings. As the sounds of thunder boomed outside the four of them ran up the stairs and arrived at large, redwood doors on the platform that displayed beautiful carvings lined accented with gold and silver.

The doors were unlocked, not that it would have stopped them regardless. With deep breaths they threw them open and ran headlong into the fight of their lives. The fiftieth floor, which was only half the size of the one below due to the stairs leading up to it, was separated into two parts. The first half was Rufus' office from which he ruled the Holy Shinra Empire. The walls here were made almost entirely of thick glass so that he could see all parts of the city. The ceiling was supported by massive marble pillars which were accompanied by fine sculptures of nude men and women. At the back wall was a large desk seated on an upraised area of the floor. The desk was a half circle, devoid of any trinkets other than the caster sphere and screen that was placed on it. Behind the desk was a chair turned away from them, and behind that was a door that led into the other half of this floor; Rufus' home. Very few knew what the inside of it looked like, but with the Emperor's noticeable love of extravagant luxury, it wasn't hard to imagine.

As soothing orchestrated music played from unseen speakers, the high-backed and well-cushioned chair behind the desk swiveled around. Seated there before them with his hands folded against his chin was Rufus Shinra.

* * *

After giving them their final instructions and wishing them luck, Reeves had quietly left his office by means of an air duct in the ceiling. It wouldn't take Zahn's people long to figure out that he was up to something, but the locked door would slow them down just enough for him to get his work done before they'd realize he was actually gone.

As he made his way through the ventilation system towards the forty-second floor, he thought about what he was about to do. Many would call him a traitor for assisting Wutai, but he considered himself a patriot. He was loyal to the people of Shinra, but not to those in power who led through lies. He worked with Wutai to destroy Rufus so that the Empire would be free of his deceit, not so that they would be occupied.

Cloud and his friends were fighting to put an end to Rufus, but they had no means of showing the world that all he had said was a lie. They merely wished to remove him from power so that the corruption would end, but to Reeves, this wasn't nearly enough. While the Empire would almost assuredly be led by better people with Rufus gone, killing him without exposing his dark secrets would only make him a legend and a martyr, and then the people of the Empire would never truly be free of his rule. Reeves had taken it upon himself to bring the truth to the surface.

With a pop he knocked a vent open and dropped down into a dark room lit only by dozens of faintly glowing spheres. Normally this room would be bustling with activity; it was the headquarters for the Caster News Network, after all. However, with the tower evacuated of everyone except for military personnel, the room was completely deserted. Moving quickly, Reeves located the remote controls for the caster he needed and flipped the switch on. Next he located the one that would broadcast his signal across the Empire and activated it as well.

Whether Cloud and his friends succeeded now or not, the truth would be known.

* * *

Vincent had waited until he was sure that the others would be heading up to the next level of the tower before he leapt over the flaming wreckage that separated him and his nemesis with a single, effortless bound. Hojo stood right where he had been before with Rufus' pet feline still at his side. Apparently he had been waiting for Vincent to make his move. It was obvious that Hojo had some plan up his sleeves; otherwise it would be suicide to simply stand before him with only a giant cat for protection.

"I wasn't sure I'd ever see the day that you'd return to me." Hojo said, his face beaming with twisted pride. "You still haven't aged a minute."

"I can't say the same for you, old man." Vincent's lips curled as he fought to hold his hatred at bay. "I see you have some problems with your eyesight."

His demeanor instantly darkening, Hojo reflexively touched the scarred flesh over his left eye socket, beneath his thick glasses. This had been the punishment that Reno had given to him many months ago for allowing Cloud to flee Midgar.

"A simple misunderstanding." Hojo said as he collected himself and smiled again.

"Why do you not run? You know what I am capable of, yet you stand there as if you have no fear."

"And why would I fear a mere failed experiment?"

"Allow me to demonstrate the reasons!" Vincent roared as he suddenly leapt across the room for Hojo's jugular. With a heavy thud, he found himself on his back again after another pounce by Kuro Koka. Jumping to his feet, he watched the feline in confusion at its strength. Granted it was the largest Dark Nation Saber that he'd ever seen, but no animal of that size should be able to throw him with such ease.

_Unless…_

"Rufus allowed me to 'borrow' his pet just in case you were to drop by the lab." Hojo chortled with odd laughter. "Of course, I don't really care about stopping your companions from fighting the Emperor, I only wish to see this experiment come to a close."

"Experiment?" Vincent asked, fearing that his premonition was correct.

"Yes. The one that I began with you." Hojo smiled with sadistic glee as he patted Kuro on the head. "Magnificent beast, isn't he? Of course, he's actually more loyal to me than he is to Rufus, but only I know that."

"You made another?" Vincent asked in shock. "Even after you were unable to control me?"

"Ah, so you figured it out!" Hojo snickered. "Yes, yes that's right."

"You raving madman." Vincent shook his head in disbelief. "How could you be so ignorant?"

"Oh I'm not the ignorant one, Vincent. You see, unlike you, I have nothing to fear from Kuro."

As Hojo took a single step back, the large feline's body began to tremble. As an unnatural ripple ran over its flesh, the furred skin began to distort and change. The feline stood on its hind feet during the transformation as its bestial body melted away and became something different. After mere seconds the feline was gone, replaced by the nude figure of a muscular man with long brown hair, golden eyes, and an eerily expressionless face.

"Truly magnificent." Hojo sounded practically giddy as he pulled a lab coat off of the wall near him and slid it over Kuro's arms, who then finished the work by zipping it up to at least partially clothe himself. "You see, Vincent; I really had no experience in this field when I first created you. I was just throwing ideas around and testing them out on you. Unfortunately, I made a terrible mistake."

"It must be very painful for you to admit you're not infallible." Vincent growled as he stared at Kuro, who remained motionless.

"With you I took a man and turned him into a beast; in retrospect this wasn't a wise decision." Hojo continued unabated by Vincent's sarcasm. "You were given enormous power, but your human origins allowed you to retain a hint of independence that eventually caused you to fully break free of my control."

Hojo's eyes glittered with insane delight as he placed his hands on Kuro's thick arms and squeezed the man as if he were his own son. The display sickened Vincent to his core.

"Kuro is not flawed like you were. I took the basic concept, but I reversed it! I took a beast and made it into a man! A hunter with the intellect of a human being, but the power and mindset of an animal! Perfect in every way, and unquestioningly loyal!"

"You disgust me, Hojo." Vincent spat out, interrupting the scientists rant. "You may even be more demented than I believed."

"Think what you will, Vincent Valentine." Hojo aimed an angry glare at him. "It doesn't matter. The only one of my creations that could possibly defeat Kuro is Sephiroth, and I'm told that he's dead."

"I am not the same monster I was when you last saw me, Hojo." Vincent said calmly. "You will die for underestimating me."

"You are nothing but a failure!" Hojo spat out as he pointed at him. "You are a berserker, and the moment your rage takes hold of you and turns you into a beast, Kuro will end your life! Today my only failure will be erased from existence!"

* * *

"So here you are at last." Rufus said from his seat behind his desk. "Now that you've done your best to ruin nearly a century of work, and killed one of my closest friends, you've come to finish me off?"

"That's right." Cloud answered. "Your tyranny ends here."

"Tyranny?" Rufus scoffed as he stood up and walked around to the front of his desk. No one noticed the caster sphere behind him spinning quietly to life. "The people of the Holy Shinra Empire trust and love me. How does that translate to tyranny?"

"They only love you because you've pulled a veil over their eyes!" Tifa snapped at him. "This perfect little world you've created isn't real!"

"I have altered reality to make my world real!" Rufus roared out at them as his eyes narrowed in anger. "I say that I am a god, and because I have power to display I am one! I say that there are demons that the world must unify to defeat, and because I create them there are!"

"But it's all fake!" Jessie yelled. "You're just playing everyone for fools so you can take over the world!"

"You've come so far, but you've learned so little." Rufus' lips curled in disgust at them all. Motioning at Cloud, he singled him out. "Especially you! You were created to help me! You could have stood by my side and brought peace and order to the world, but instead you choose to throw it all away and oppose me!"

"How can you have the gall to speak of peace and order!" Cloud bit back. "You kill everyone who finds out the truth! You've murdered thousands of innocents in your war with Wutai just because they don't believe that you're a god! You've probably killed even more than that in your own Empire!"

"I do what is necessary to unify the world!"

"You sacrifice innocent blood without remorse!" Nanaki chimed in. "The people of this Empire trust in you, but you kill them if they threaten your precious lies!"

"You villainize me for killing the few when I am saving millions!" Rufus snapped as he slammed his fist into his desk, sending cracks through it. "How can any of you judge me! You have all lived in the world I created where war is a distant matter and where most people are safe. You don't know what it was like before the Empire! None of you know what it was like to live during the wars of old where every man, woman, and child went to sleep at night fearing that they may awake to the drums of a warlord who wants to kill and enslave them all! You don't know what it was like for children to watch their fathers killed and their mothers raped before their very eyes! I delivered the world from that terrible era, and you would see me crucified as a devil!"

"You delivered us at what cost!" Cloud argued back. "You control the world; you decide who lives and who dies. No one is truly free in your Empire. They're all prisoners and they don't even know it!"

"So let them be happy in ignorance, rather than dead with the truth!"

"You're a monster!" Tifa shouted above the rest. "You're the real reason that Nibelheim was burned down! You're the real reason that Zach is dead!"

"My parents were killed because of your fucking lies!" Jessie furiously yelled.

"And my race was nearly destroyed just because you feared our power!" Nanaki roared as he let his human disguise drop to reveal his true Cetra form.

"All justified, if it will keep the general populace at peace for another day!" Rufus raised a clenched fist in the air at them. "And I will not see all that I have built destroyed by idealists! This is where your revolution ends!"

Snapping his fist open, Rufus launched a barrage of blue and yellow lightning from his palm that slammed into the floor, narrowly missing Cloud as he jumped out of the way. Raising his other hand, the Divine Emperor let loose a series of thin rays of white light that blew large chunks out of the marble columns of his office as the party darted behind them for cover.

* * *

From his office window Lieutenant General Zahn watched the battle occurring down in the city proper. A faint smile came to his lips as he took a drink from the coffee mug he held and watched Heidegger's large suit of MagiTek armor crash through a line of Wutai soldiers. If it weren't for that suit, Heidegger wouldn't be caught within a mile of the actual combat, but the rotund general believed he was invincible inside of it. Little did he know that Zahn had personally ordered a few special installations in the armor just a day earlier. Heidegger would be quite surprised at how _faulty_ the suit was in just about fifteen more minutes.

Also on the battlefield was Reno. Though the Turk was too small to actually see from this distance, it was easy to pinpoint where he was from the explosions and light shows going on in quadrant four. Just as well. He'd be kept busy and away from the real action going on in the tower, and he'd take out quite a few Wutai troops in the meantime. All in all, everything was going very well.

Behind him the door to his office opened and Sergeant Vicks stepped inside.

"Sir, we have a problem."

"That's not what I'd expect to hear from you, Sergeant." Zahn said coolly as he turned to face his subordinate. "What is it?"

"It's Reeves, sir." Vicks winced from the look he was being given. "He went quiet for a while, so we tried to go in his office and it was locked. We got in, but he's gone. We think he went in the ventilation system."

"You should have had some one with him at all times." Zahn grunted. "Where is he now?"

"That's the problem, sir. We're not sure."

"You're not sure?" Zahn raised an eyebrow. "I'm beginning to question whether it was wise to put you in charge, Vicks."

"I'm sorry, sir. I take full responsib—" Vicks cut off as he reached up to his ear to touch a small device nestled there. "We have him, sir. He's on the forty-second floor."

"The Casters!" Zahn slammed his coffee mug down as a horrible feeling swept over him. "Come with me, now!"

Vicks nodded hastily as Zahn rushed by him and together the two ran to the central stairs and headed up. It took them only a few short minutes to reach the floor Reeves was on at the speed they were going. The door to the Caster News Network headquarters was locked shut, but Zahn took care of that with two solid kicks that knocked the door off its hinges and sent splinters flying. Rushing into the room, he immediately spotted Reeves, who continued to furiously tap controls right up until Zahn grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the wall.

"You fool!" Zahn bit out as he hastily shut down the Casters that Reeves had been messing with.

"It's too late." Reeves laughed in his victory. "The broadcast already went out. Every one who was near a Caster screen just heard enough of the truth to discredit Rufus forever."

"How could you be so ignorant!" Zahn shouted, his pale face flushing with anger as he turned and threw a punch into Reeves jaw. "Rufus' death alone would shake the Empire to its core; finding out the truth about him will completely destroy it!"

"Maybe." Reeves continued laughing as he shook his head and wiped at the blood dribbling from the corner of his lips. "But at least they know the truth now."

"What good will the truth do them if it causes a civil war!" Zahn punched him again. "I always knew that you didn't truly support me, but I never dreamed you would be capable of doing something this insane!"

"Let history decide if my actions were right or wrong." Reeves said as he narrowed his eyes at Zahn. "The Empire is better off without the likes of Rufus or you in power."

"History will never know your name, my friend." Zahn mumbled as he quickly drew his sword from its sheath on his belt and with one swift motion sent it deep into Reeves chest.

Reeves gasped sharply as his hands went to his wound, but Zahn raised one booted foot up and kicked him to the ground, pulling his sword out as he did so. Reeves said nothing as his eyes slid shut and he fell into darkness. Zahn wiped the blood from his sword onto the white and blue leg of his pants before returning it to its sheath.

"What now?" Vicks asked with worry in his voice. "This ruins all our plans."

"No." Zahn said the disgust in his voice obvious. "It's a serious setback, but nothing we can't correct with time. We'll just have to rethink things. That's all."

"Yes sir." Vicks replied, but his tone made it clear that he was unsure about this.

"Come on." Zahn said as he spat down on Reeves corpse and then stepped over it to head towards the door. "I need you to continue observing the battle while I work on our backup plan."

"We have a backup plan?" Vicks asked in surprise.

"I always have a backup plan." Zahn said through gritted teeth. "Always."

* * *

Elena was in Kalm's city square with several other priests and a squadron of cathedral guards preparing to broadcast her announcement about the martial law status for Midgar. Normally she simply broadcast from the caster in her own office, but something of this magnitude deserved an actual crowd. At least half of the city had gathered here to listen, and she was just about to begin when the city's main caster screen activated behind her. Confused as to this turn of events, Elena and the populace looked to the screen to see what was being reported, but none of them could possibly have expected what they saw. By the time the broadcast ended, or was cut short as it seemed, everyone in the city square was in a state of shock that left then totally silent, or mumbling about the terrible things they'd just heard.

Elena herself was stunned at what she had witnessed. The horrible things that Rufus had said on the broadcast were unfathomable. Surely there had to be some sort of terrible mistake; there was no way it could be real.

_The demons!_ Elena thought to herself as the only logical answer came to her. Obviously, the ones that Rufus had spoken to her about were more skilled at impersonating mankind than she'd thought. Some how they must have imitated the Emperor in order to bring disorder into the Empire so that they could attack. That had to be it; the other possibility was far too nauseating to even consider.

"High Priestess?" One of the cathedral guards asked in a frightened whisper. "What is the meaning of this?"

Elena turned to see her priests and soldiers looking to her with fear and doubt. Raising her eyes past them she saw a similar scene amongst the gathered citizens. The people were frightened at what they had seen. Some were shocked into silence, others were openly weeping for the future, and still others were trembling with hatred. Kalm was the most devout city in all the Empire. If those gathered here were in a state of disarray and anger, there was no telling what was happening else where.

"High Priestess!" Another of the guards snapped her out of her thoughts. "You must say something! What is happening?"

The faith of even those in the service of the church was shaken. Something had to be done; she could only hope that the brief broadcast hadn't been seen by many people.

"It is a lie!" Elena shouted above the rabble of the crowd. "Have faith in the Divine Emperor! This is a ploy by the demons to weaken our Empire!"

From the shouts that went up among the crowd it was clear that it would take a much more convincing statement to lay aside their doubts. This was not something she could do in haste, she had to carefully plan what she would say in order to ease the minds of those who had seen this terrible lie.

"What shall we do, High Priestess?" One of the other priests asked.

"Citizens of the Holy Shinra Empire!" Elena shouted loudly as she motioned for the crowd to be silent. "Be steadfast in your faith! We will return to the cathedral and prepare an official broadcast that will put to rest this false message and the lies it contained! Until that time, please return to your homes in an orderly fashion and remain calm!"  
A few people took her words to heart and began to leave the city square, but many remained, their voices growing more angry and feverish with each passing moment. There was a great risk that this could grow into a very dangerous mob. Elena signaled for her priests to return to the cathedral as she leaned in and whispered to the ranking officer amongst her guards.

"Bring every cathedral guard in Kalm out and put your men in a state of alert. Do not allow this city to fall into crisis, no matter the cost. I will bring in Imperial Soldiers to assist you if I must."

"Yes, High Priestess." The soldier whispered back.

As Elena was escorted back to the cathedral, the guards began to do what they could to disperse the crowd, but it was only a matter of time before violence began to spread through the once peaceful city of Kalm.

* * *

Nanaki scrambled out of the way as one of the nude female statues was blown into chunks and collapsed overtop of where he had stood only moments before. He hadn't truly known what to expect from this battle, but it surely wasn't going as he'd hoped. Rufus was practically untouchable.

With a flying leap, Tifa reached Rufus and slashed at him with the Atma Claws, hoping to weaken his defenses as she had against Rude. Rufus raised his right hand towards her and the air between the two rippled strangely. As Tifa's attack hit the distortion, the Claws bounced off of the air as if it were a solid wall. Pushing his extended palm towards her just a little more caused the effect to expand and hit her body, throwing her across the room.

"Is that the best you can do!" Rufus snarled as he turned and deflected a bolt of white energy that flew from Jessie's Atma Ray with a fireball that flew from his fingertips.

Running quickly, Cloud swung his Buster Sword at Rufus' chest. The Emperor brought his left arm up and caught the cleaving blade in his hand. Showing no sign of physical damage whatsoever, Rufus twisted the heavy sword from Cloud's grip and hit him in the chest with the flat of the blade. With a grunt, Cloud flew back, tumbling end over end until his back came to rest on one of the marble pillars. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he had just enough time to gasp and duck as the tip of his sword slammed into the column. The blade embedded itself a good ten inches into the marble from the sheer power that Rufus had used to throw it.

With a feline growl, Nanaki raised his hands above his head and chanted swiftly. As a light wind kicked up around him and energy began to glow in his fists, he braced himself and aimed his open palms at Rufus. A large orb of darkness coursing with tracers of gray energy was hurled and struck the Divine Emperor squarely in his chest. Nanaki grinned to himself for a moment, but as the Demi spell dispersed, Rufus stood there unchanged. With a smirk, the Emperor leapt at the Cetra warrior and hit him with his shoulder; the impact sent Nanaki flailing through the air.

"This is all you have?" Rufus taunted them. "Did you really think that just because you managed to kill Rude that you could take me with ease! His power was nothing next to mine!"

Grunting, Cloud rolled to his feet and grasped the hilt of the Buster Sword but was unable to pull it from the column it was stuck in. Raising his right hand he cast a thunder spell and sent a small bolt of lightning into the marble, causing it to tremble violently. With a heavy pull and twist the marble crumbled enough for him to rip the sword free.

Tifa ran towards Rufus and Cloud came up along side of her, intent on hitting him at the same time. A little west of them, Jessie was taking aim to fire at him again, and Nanaki was scrambling to his feet. As they all rushed at him at once, Rufus knelt down and slammed his fists into the floor. After a slight delay, a wave of blue light erupted from the ground and expanded in all directions around him, hitting all four of his attackers at once and sending them to the ground.

"You will never defeat me!" Rufus shouted in anger. "I am a god!"

* * *

Zahn and Vicks headed out of the Caster News Network Headquarters and back towards the stair well when they heard a man scream from several floors above them, causing them both to pause. Seconds later another scream followed, and they glanced to one another before running for the stairs as fast as they could. Busting through the door, they looked up just as the door to the forty-fifth floor was smashed outwards by the flying body of a Shinra soldier. As blood splattered across the railing, the soldier flipped over and fell screaming down the long stair well, passing the pair of men as he went. Running to the edge, Zahn looked down in time to see the falling man's head smash into the railing further down. The impact sparked a domino effect that sent the now limp body bouncing back and forth until at last the man smashed into the ground floor with an unsavory splat.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Sergeant Vicks sounded worried as another scream came from above.

"Come on." Zahn said as he set his jaw and ran up the stairs. Pulling his sword out he carefully stepped through the door to the forty-fifth floor and was stopped cold at what he saw.

The check point floor that Cloud and his companions had passed by earlier was in disarray. Although Zahn had stationed many men here in order to let them through, as well as stop anyone loyal to Rufus from interfering, none of the soldiers were alive now. Their bodies were strewn about the checkpoint like rag dolls. Some had been killed by magic, others by precision attacks by some sort of slashing melee weapon, and still others had been brutally mutilated for apparently no reason. This hadn't been a simple attack; this had been a murderer's playground.

The walls and floor were smeared with crimson. There were streaking finger and palm prints from where the soldiers had tried to keep from falling. Blood was also sprayed across the walls and floors in almost artistic patterns from when the actual attacks had landed. One corpse was even surrounded by a sticky puddle of yellow, now mixed with blood seeping from the wounds that had killed the man. It would have taken a truly nightmarish sight to make one of these troops wet himself. The carnage was extreme, perhaps some of the most disturbing images that even a seasoned military leader like Zahn had seen.

A movement to the north caught his eye, breaking his stunned fixation on the murderous scene before him. Darting for cover in case of an attack, he caught a brief glimpse of a shadowy figure before it darted up the stairs towards the next floor. With that simple flash, a horrible feeling swept over him.

"What the hell was that!" Vicks gasped, certainly on edge from seeing such violence laid out in front of him.

"Call your men, sergeant." Zahn said as things began to click in his mind. "We have to evacuate this tower immediately."

* * *

Vincent ducked low as Kuro leapt at him. The beast man's fist slammed hard into the wall behind him, sending plaster flying. Blood dripped from his clenched fist, but he didn't seem to notice. Turning to search for his target once again, Kuro let out a guttural growl that was every bit as animalistic as it was when he'd been in his feline form. From his left the much lither form of Vincent darted at him, swinging his gauntlet at the beast's face, but Kuro dodged the attack with ease.

As Kuro crouched low and then pounced onto Vincent, who grabbed the other's arms as he fell to his back and flipped him off, Hojo watched on with demented glee. Rubbing his hands together, the mad scientist relished every movement as he awaited the glorious victory of his precious creation.

Kuro didn't say a word as they battled, and he rarely made a sound other than the occasional grunt or growl. It was like he had no soul at all, and that made him very dangerous. Vincent knew this all to well, which is why he knew he couldn't let the fight get away from him or he'd definitely lose. As Kuro threw another punch, Vincent ducked his head beneath it and swiped at his chest with the sharp metal fingers of his gauntlet, shredding a ragged hole through the lab coat and tearing deep into flesh. Kuro didn't seem to mind as he grasped Vincent's neck with one strong hand and lifted him into the air. Kuro swung his body around twice to gain momentum and then used his speed to slam Vincent's head into the floor. The hard stone cracked and turned to gravel from the force of the impact, and Vincent was left lying there dazed and unfocused.

"Excellent!" Hojo cackled from the side line.

"I am not beaten." Vincent coughed as he began to push himself up off the ground.

In response, Kuro again grasped his neck, this time with both hands, and began to slowly squeeze the life out of him. His air supply nearly cut off, Vincent's hands went to Kuro's wrists as he tried to wrestle him off, but the beast man was too strong even for him. As hatred and anger raged through him, Vincent's eyes began to dimly glow.

"Yes!" Hojo squealed as he saw the telltale sign. "Give in to the anger and let the beast inside of you take control, so that you can die like the animal you are!"

Looking to Hojo from the corner of his eyes, the glow grew brighter as his brows furrowed and his lips curled in fury. Just as Kuro had, his body began to tremble as the genetic alterations in him began to take hold. Rather than simply becoming the Galian beast, though, this time his change was different. His teeth elongated into terrible fangs, but his jaw remained human. His body's muscle mass expanded, but he did not become an animal. As slender talons grew from where his fingernails had been, Vincent dug the razor-sharp claws into Kuro's wrists and used newfound strength to forcibly pull the other creatures hands off of his neck. As Kuro growled in anger at his failings, Vincent slowly forced him far enough back to bring both of his heavy boots up into his chest. With a fierce kick, he sent the beast man flying into the flaming debris he'd caused earlier.

"No!" Hojo said with horror on his face. "That can't be!"

Vincent said nothing as he slowly stood to his feet. With a tearing sound, two thin black and leathery wings sprouted from his shoulder blades and expanded to a nine foot span from side to side. Standing there with his eyes burning red and his body silhouetted by the flames behind him, he looked like the devil himself; a truly horrifying sight to behold.

"I have regained control of the emotions you once tried to steal from me." Vincent said, his voice a frightening sound in the otherwise quiet chamber. "I have conquered the beast you created inside of me and have become something entirely new!"

With a roar, Kuro Koka leapt back into the fight from the darkness. His clothing and body were aflame and seared from where he'd been thrown into the burning wreckage, but it didn't slow him down any. With a terrible cry he leapt at Vincent with the obvious intent to rip him apart.

Turning to face his opponent, this new incarnation of Vincent Valentine reached out and caught Kuro by his face, stopping him in midair in an amazing display of strength. Held off the ground by only a single arm, Kuro flailed like the wild animal he was created from, his hands slamming against Vincent's arm, but he was unable to break free. With a look of sadness on his face for the poor creature that Hojo had created, Vincent squeezed his gauntleted hand tight. Kuro's body went limp as his skull was crushed in, and Vincent dropped him to the floor.

"No!" Hojo screamed out as he rushed to the corpse of his beloved experiment. "No!"

"I have become more than you can ever hope to contain." Vincent said as he reached down with his clawed hand and lifted Hojo off the ground by his collar.

"It's not possible!" Hojo cried as he futilely struggled to escape. "You can't just change what you are! I made you!"

"You made me into a monster that could change its form." Vincent said with quiet hatred. "And I have changed into your executioner."

"You have no right to kill me!" Hojo uselessly argued. "I am your maker!"

"You were my murderer." Vincent hissed through his fangs. "You destroyed my life and brought me back as a devil. You _raped_ the woman I loved, and then made me kill her!"

"Don't make it sound so uncivilized!" Hojo barked at him as he continued to pointlessly bat at the hand around his collar. "It was a scientific experiment! I used sterilized equipment and—"

"Whether you used instruments or forced your own shriveled body on top of her, it makes no difference!" Vincent roared at him as he lifted both hands and grasped at Hojo's neck now. "You defiled an innocent girl against her wishes with your own tainted seed and used it to create yet another monster!"

"Sephiroth was no monster!" Hojo choked out. "He was the greatest living organism on this world! I made him perfect!"

"Then perhaps it's unlucky for you that he's not here!" Vincent hissed as he squeezed harder.

Hojo tried to respond again, but his mouth formed nothing but gurgles and grunts as Vincent's grip tightened more and more. The scientists face began to turn red then purple as air failed to reach his brain. Vincent stared at the dying man as he clenched fangs for a long while before finally squeezing sharply one last time. With a wet crunch, Hojo's head began to bob unnaturally as his remaining eye rolled back into his skull and Vincent dropped the corpse to the floor. For a long time he stood there, panting and staring at the dead man as his body shrank back to its original size and form. The last to go were the freakish wings and the glow in his eyes, and he stood there as his normal self.

"And at last I am human once again." Vincent said in a trembling whisper as he turned away from the two dead bodies and walked away.

* * *

Scarlet Grant had been in Research Room Three in the Magic and Technology Research Division's First Branch when the sounds of something terrible happening erupted from elsewhere on the floor. Not knowing what was happening, she returned the artifact she had been studying to its containment chamber behind her and darted out into the hallway. Following the terrible sounds through the floor, she found herself approaching the research area where the Atma Ray was housed. Fearing the worst, she crept around the corner and glanced in through one of the many doors that opened into the large room.

With a gasp, she backed away. Hojo and his precious Kuro Koka were inside, battling against a tall, pale man dressed in red and black in the midst of burning equipment. Even though she'd only looked in briefly, she knew who it was; Vincent Valentine. There was no way in hell she was going in there.

The safest place for her would most likely be the room she'd just come from. Its walls were heavily armored, due to the item she had been inspecting earlier being kept there. If the tower was under assault, she'd be able to hide in there without much trouble. If only she had some of her wonderful little weapons with her she wouldn't be concerned, but most of those were down in the city itself, not up here where they could be more easily discovered by prying eyes.

Running back the way she'd come, Scarlet ran back inside Research Room Three and slammed the door shut behind her. She was just about to lock the door when she noticed that the lights had gone out since she left, the room illuminated now only by the soft glow from the containment chamber on the north wall. Reaching to her left, she went to flip the light switch but found the panel torn open. As her eyes went wide, she heard a sound from behind her and turned to see a figure in the shadows; she was not alone.

"Who's there!" She called out in as authoritative a tone as she could muster under these stressful conditions. "Show yourself!"

With quiet footsteps, the figure stepped close enough to her and the containment chamber for its dull light to spill over his form, revealing his identity. Scarlet stumbled backwards upon seeing who it was, and as her blood chilled she knew that she was about to die.

* * *

Cloud, Tifa, Jessie, and Nanaki were all laying or crouching close to one another. They were breathing heavily and covered in cuts, bruises, and singes. They were battered, and they were losing, and there seemed to be nothing they could do about it. Rufus was just too strong; they hadn't been able to damage him at all.

"You see?" Rufus said as he towered over them, content in his victory. "I'm invincible. Your precious Atma Weapons alone aren't enough to break my defenses."

No one responded, but their expressions spoke for them. They hated him, but he was right. They didn't know what to do, and they were rapidly becoming too tired and too beaten to fight regardless.

"And now, my faithless little friends, you die."

As Rufus raised his left hand towards them, a ball of multi-colored energy forming in his palm, the sound of a door being thrown open came from behind him. Rufus whipped around to see Aerith Gainsborough standing behind his desk in front of the door that led to his private living area. Reeves had told her how to find a secret lift that only Rufus and his closest friends had access to, and she had used it to sneak into the fight while he was distracted with the others. Before he could say or do anything, she entwined her fingers together in front of her face in a silent prayer.

"NO!" Rufus shouted as he brought his hands up to fire a spell at her before she could finish her chant, but his body contorted in pain as Jessie fired a blast from the Atma Ray into his spine. With his attention solely on Aerith, he hadn't been able to defend against it.

"Holy!" Aerith's voice rang out through the chamber. "Come forth!"

A bright glow came from the back of her hair where the Holy orb was tied into her ribbon, and instantly the powerful spell took effect. Wisps of green light erupted from the floor and began snaking through the room. The lifestream tendrils wrapped around Rufus' body, jumping into his skin through his pores, mouth, ears, and nostrils. As the wisps darted in, out, and around him, he let out an enraged howl and fell to his knees where his arms trembled as he fought to hold himself up.

Seeing their chance, the others pulled themselves up and rejoined the battle. Tifa leapt onto Rufus back and plunged the Atma Claws into his neck with a sizzle. Rufus groaned as his energy was sapped away, and Tifa kicked off of him and back flipped away as Jessie fired another shot into his left temple. Rufus was sent sprawling and hit his desk hard enough to break it in two. The caster orb on it fell down and shattered across his skull as the lifestream attack that had been focused on him began to fade. In its damaged state, Holy couldn't sustain an assault for long, but it had been enough.

Shaking his head, Rufus began to climb to his feet when Cloud reached him and sent his knee into the Emperor's stomach. Rufus grunted as he stumbled back, only to have Nanaki upper cut him in the jaw with the handle of his dagger. The hit threw him over the broken desk where he landed halfway in his chair, which swiveled away and let him fall to the floor.

Rufus groaned and scrambled up, nearly running into Aerith as she raised the rod that Bugenhagen had given her into the air. Orange and red streaks of flame and magma danced around the skyward pointed tip, forming a molten sphere that pulsed with strength. With a shout, Aerith jerked the instrument down and in Rufus' direction. The enhanced Flare spell was flung from the weapon and hit him on the shoulder, sending him spinning through the air. Rufus was thrown clear through one of the nude statues that adorned the office, but managed to land on his feet nonetheless. Growling in anger and pain, Rufus brought his hands up and launched a barrage of small ice shards flying across the room. Nanaki and Jessie managed to lurch behind the marble pillars for protection whereas Tifa cast a shielding spell around herself and Cloud, and Aerith did the same for herself.

"This changes nothing!" Rufus screamed, though the blood dribbling from his mouth proved otherwise. "I will still kill you all!"

Not bothering to speak, Tifa and Cloud wordlessly formed a plan and carried it out. As Rufus continued to hurl larger and larger frozen spears at them, Tifa ran headlong into the attack with her shield spell up in front of her. Cloud, brandishing the Buster Sword, ran behind her, leaping over her shield at the last moment to bring his weapon down on Rufus' head. The cleaving blade still wasn't enough to actually crush or cut the Emperor, but it certainly must have hurt. He went down on the ground instantly, and rolled away from them as he held his head.

Nanaki darted forward from the column he'd been behind with both of his hands trailing behind him, a dagger in each. As he ran with his upper body bowed low, he whipped his arms forward, slashing at Rufus' chest with the two daggers. They struck, slashing his clothing but leaving him undamaged. The Divine Emperor swung his leg around to send his right ankle into Nanaki's neck. As the Cetra boy tumbled over, Rufus was pushed back several feet as three blasts from the Atma Ray hit him cleanly in the chest and stomach. Jessie continued to fire, but Rufus managed to bring up a light purple shield in front of him that began deflecting her shots.

Running forward, Aerith twirled the mage staff in her hands and muttered words beneath her breath, slamming the end of the rod into Rufus' shield, she channeled her counter spell through the rod, causing the shield to shatter. Cursing, Rufus lashed out at her. His first punch was parried by her staff, but the second hit her in her gut, sending the beautiful girl to her knees; still, she hadn't been thrown across the room, which was a good indication of where Rufus' power now stood.

With a shout, Tifa leapt at him and swung her leg up in a roundhouse kick at his face. Rufus ducked low, causing her to miss, but she followed it up with a punch to his chest that he couldn't avoid. Cloud leapt in to help and swung the Buster Sword down hard, narrowly missing as Rufus side stepped, only to be hit in the chin as Tifa dolphin kicked into the air.

Stumbling back, Rufus shook his head hard, sweat dripping down his enraged and pained face. Cloud ran at him again, and swung diagonally, but Rufus ducked to his right and avoided it, then slammed his shoulder into Cloud's chest, sending the blond falling to his ass. With a flip, Cloud was back on his feet just before Rufus loosed a deadly bolt of lightning into the spot he'd been in.

Though Rufus didn't see what hit him, he fell to his back as Tifa swept her leg into his feet. The moment he hit the ground, he rolled away and came up into a crouch, but was only rewarded by a punch to his nose that sent the Atma Claw's energy-disrupting tips into his face. With a sizzle and a pop, Rufus fell backwards, and when he came up this time his nose was bleeding badly. His defenses were weakened enough for him to take the brunt of physical damage.

With a roar of hate, Rufus flung a glowing sphere of gold from his palm that hit Tifa in the sternum. With a grunt, she was thrown head over heels until she crashed into another statue and fell to the floor. Rufus took in a deep breath and began to turn only to be greeted by Aerith, who had now risen to her feet again.

"Deadly rumbles, strike from the sky!" She shouted. "Heaven Thunder!"

As her spell finished, bolts of lightning enhanced with the power of the Holy orb she held erupted from the air above her and slammed into Rufus. Using Holy as a conductor had been a little theory she'd tested out during her trip to Midgar. The electric charges coursed through his body, and as his eyes widened and he screamed in pain, he was thrown through the air where he came down next to his desk's chair once again. Groaning heavily from the pain, his eyes rolled open and from where his head lay on the ground he could see the underside of his usual seat.

"No!" Rufus screamed with a ragged voice as his eyes went wide at what he saw.

With a quiet beep, the explosive charges that Lieutenant General Zahn had secretly placed on the bottom of the chair activated. With an eruption of flame and smoke the bomb went off and flooded the chamber with booming noise. Realizing what was happening, Cloud and the others ran quickly for the exit. They just managed to leap out of the doors and fall down the stairs as the explosions grew larger and the ceiling began to collapse in on top of the Divine Emperor.


	13. Chapter XIII Silver and Cold

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Check back next weekend for the epilogue.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.

Luminus

* * *

Chapter XIII

Silver and Cold

Deep inside of Sector Seven, the battle had begun to turn against Wutai. Things had been progressing relatively smoothly until Reno had made his appearance. Under normal circumstances the Turk would never live up to his full potential in public, but this was hardly regular day. Since his arrival he had taken out dozens of units single handedly, not to mention quite a few airships. The brief broadcast that had gone out showing Rufus' for the liar that he was hadn't managed to demoralize the Shinra soldiers either, as the main caster screen for this sector had been destroyed during the fight.

Though the storm had finally cleared away, the battle itself was growing more uncontrollable with each passing moment. Sticking near each other, Colonel Miyama, Yuffie, and the three members of Avalanche fought against an advancing wave of Shinra soldiers. Though they had been dug in well, they were now beginning to lose ground as the Shinra army began to rally.

Discarding the gun she'd acquired earlier as the materia inside of it shattered from overuse, Miyama looked around to evaluate the situation when she spotted a red haired man in a blue suit running towards them. Cursing through her teeth, she pulled her sword from its sheath at her hip and prepared to do her best against an opponent she knew she could not beat.

"Look out!" Biggs yelled as he threw Miyama out of the way and tried to leap to safety as well.

With little difficulty, Reno caught him and slapped the weapon from Biggs' hands. Raising his materia gun up, he fired several shots into the man's throat at point blank range. As Biggs collapsed to the ground, dead before his body could even hit the pavement, Wedge cried out for his friend and ran at the Turk. Both Miyama and Barret yelled for the chubby man to disengage, but it was too late for that. With a brutal punch to his gut, Reno sent Wedge stumbling. As the poor man groaned in pain, the Turks right hand began to glow an otherworldly shade of red. With just a touch of his palm to Wedge's face, the overweight man's head was obliterated, leaving only a charred stump for a neck.

"Goddamn you!" Barret shouted with mental anguish as he again pulled the protective glove off of his right hand and aimed his palm at the Turk. A blast of super heated water erupted from the unpredictable bio-materia canon and rushed over Reno's body.

The sheer force and boiling heat of the gushing water would have killed any normal human in a heartbeat, but Reno pushed through it as if it were a splash of cold pool water. With steam rising off of his dripping clothes, he grasped Barret by the throat and pushed him to his knees.

"This is the position people like you were meant for!" Reno cackled. "Groveling before your superiors!"

"Fuck you!" Barret snarled as he pulled at Reno's hand to no avail, all the while continuing to pump boiling water over him from his experimental arm.

With a quiet "thwip", Yuffie hurled a throwing star that did nothing but bounce off of Reno's neck as if it were made of paper. Grinning maliciously, Reno brought his right hand up to strike Barret down once and for all, but then the Turk's eyes went wide and his face paled. Without a sound, he dropped Barret and turned towards the center of Midgar just as the top floor of the tower erupted in a series of small explosions that could be seen from everywhere in the city.

For a moment, the entire battle seemed to come to a complete stop as the sight and sound temporarily drew the attention of all the combatants. To the Shinra defenders it was the most horrifying thing they could ever have dreamed of witnessing. For Wutai it was a sign of hope that heralded a possible end to this long and drawn out war. As the seconds ticked by and the battle resumed, the soldiers of Shinra fought with a greater fury than ever before, born from the fear and anger at what they had just seen. The zealous men and women were now faced with the terrible thought that the Divine Emperor, their god, could be dead, and it fueled their hatred and desire to slaughter every last one of these Wutai invaders.

Staring at the burning summit of the tower with elation, Colonel Miyama couldn't help but fear for the lives of her allies who she knew must have been battling Rufus for such a thing to happen. Completely lost in her thoughts, Miyama snapped back into focus as the clash of nearby swords rang through her ears. It was then that she realized that Reno was gone. She looked to Yuffie, but the assassin only shook her head. She wasn't sure where the Turk had gone either.

Pulling his glove back over his hand to stop the random and dangerous effects of his altered arm, Barret crawled to the bodies of his two friends and grasped at their clothing. Yuffie and Miyama both winced with heartfelt sympathy as the large mans head dropped and he began to quietly cry for his fallen comrades. Yuffie stepped over to him and put her hands on his broad shoulders as they began to shake, but he didn't seem to know that there was anyone else around him at the moment.

With the screams and moans of the dying increasing rapidly, Miyama knew that it was time to go. She yelled for Yuffie to help get Barret to his feet as she reached for her radio and ordered a full retreat. Their goal here had been to cause a distraction so that Rufus could be attacked, and that had obviously been accomplished, staying any longer was suicide. Upon receiving the orders, the remaining airships dropped altitude and lowered their ramps and ladders, laying down magical assaults from their decks as soldiers began to clamor on.

Dependable as always, if a little unsavory, Cid and his Highwind dropped out of the sky and began blasting away at the waves of Shinra soldiers as Miyama, Yuffie, Barret, and many other soldiers climbed aboard. As the remaining ground forces of Wutai began to quickly retreat, the fleet of airships lifted back into the sky and continued raining fire, lightning, and ice down upon the Shinra defenders, forcing them to take cover. The battle at Midgar was drawing to a close, leaving the war torn and flaming wreckage of Sector Seven in its wake.

* * *

Sitting inside the relative comforts of his MagiTek armor, General Heidegger tore through lines of Wutai soldiers as they fled from its massive footsteps. Once he began avoiding anyone that was a true threat, he'd been doing quite well, despite the damage he'd sustained earlier. With a guffaw, he sent the suits left claws through a Wutain woman. As the girl's body went limp, he tore her torso in half and sent the pieces flying. He laughed as he watched Wutai beginning to retreat, not even realizing that the top of Rufus' tower was in flames behind them; after all, he was far too busy to take note of such historic events.

Changing course, he found another handful of targets and began charging towards them when a red light marked "emergency" began to blink. Heidegger ignored it; he knew nothing about the suits design or construction, he was only capable of operating it. Reaching the first of his new victims, he stomped the man into a bloody mark on the ground, and then aimed the left hand materia canon at another and fired. As the beam of light vaporized its target, he felt the temperature within the suits cockpit rising rapidly. He thought little of it until the controls began to spark and pop all around him, but by then it was too late.

With a devastating explosion that leveled an entire city block, and incinerated Wutai and Shinra forces alike, the power core of the MagiTek armor erupted from where it had been sabotaged. Heidegger would neither stand in Zahn's way, nor laugh in ignorance any longer.

* * *

Marked with the blood of his creator, Vincent Valentine walked the hallways of the Magic and Technology Research Division's floor towards the stairs that would take him the rest of the way up the tower and reunite him with his companions. While he went he heard several explosions come from above, and felt the building tremble. As the lights in the ceiling flickered on and off, he only hoped that this wasn't a bad sign.

The tall man moved slowly as his mind drifted in and out of a hundred thoughts, most of which centered around what he would do now that the only thing that had driven him for decades was gone. It was then that a woman's scream pierced the solitude of his mind. Instantly alert, his eyes darted around in search of the origin; that had been a cry of terror and impending doom, something he was rather an expert at identifying.

The sound was not repeated, but he had a decent idea of what direction it had come from, and so he started out. Moving swiftly through the corridors, he came to an intersection. The right path would take him towards the stairs, the left lead to where he believed the scream had come from. For a moment he stood there in indecision as he weighed which action he should take. Surely searching for his comrades would be more intelligent, but looking to see if some one was in need of help would be the right thing to do; a moral dilemma, one he was not accustomed to.

When at last he chose to search for the woman who had screamed, he turned down the left path only to be stopped by a shout from behind him. Though his reflexes told him to kill, he refrained from doing so as he recognized the voice. Turning back around, he saw the others running towards him as best they could in the battered state they were in. Apparently they had come looking for him.

"Vincent!" Jessie nearly squealed with joy upon seeing him safe and sound. Running up to him with only a slight limp, the girl grasped onto him in a fierce hug, ignoring the blood smearing onto her clothing from his.

"It's good to see you again." He told her.

"Did you do what you needed to?" Cloud asked.

Vincent nodded. "And you?"

"We think so."

"You don't know?" Vincent's forehead creased with concern at that unexpected answer.

"There was an explosion." Tifa explained. "Rufus was right next to it when it happened, and the whole floor kind of collapsed in on him."

"Did he survive?"

"We couldn't get back up there to check." Jessie said. "But he was already pretty badly hurt; I don't think he could have made it through with as weak as he was."

"Then we will hope for the best." Vincent said. Taking note of Aerith, he nodded to the girl. "I'm glad to find that you're safe. We had feared that coming to Midgar alone would be the death of you."

"Thank you for your concern." Aerith smiled to him. None of them had really had the chance to welcome her back as of yet, they had been a bit too busy fighting gods to say hello. "I'm only glad that we were able to put an end to this evil."

"What of Chaos?" Vincent asked.

"We're not sure where it is." Cloud shook his head. "If Rufus had it on him, he didn't use it."

"Maybe he really did only want it to keep it out of his enemy's hands." Tifa theorized. "He might have been crazy, but he seemed to think he was protecting people. I kind of doubt he'd use a doomsday spell like that with his mindset."

"It's possible I guess." Cloud agreed. "But let's discuss it some where else, huh? We need to get out of here."

"Wait!" Vincent exclaimed as he remembered what he'd been doing before they'd arrived. "Some one on this floor is in danger. I heard a scream and was going to help when you came."

"Then let us be swift." Nanaki said. "I fear we will be in great danger if we do not leave this tower soon."

"Come." Vincent nodded and turned back down the left path. Following behind him, it wasn't long until they spotted a large laboratory marked Research Room Three. The thick and seemingly very secure door that led into it was hanging open, revealing a dark room with only an occasional spark of light inside. The most telling aspect was a series of small blood spots forming a trail that led from the hallway to inside the room, as if it had been dripping as some one walked inside.

The party looked to one another with doubt, but pressed on regardless. Inside, the laboratory was quite simply a mess. Whoever or whatever had been here had apparently decided to redecorate, even though doing so hadn't seemed to accomplish anything whatsoever. There were desk items such as paper and pens strewn across the floor. The walls and work stations had been slashed apart by some sort of strong weapon; an enchanted sword perhaps. The light switch had been torn out of the wall leaving the room in almost total darkness. The only source of illumination came from a flickering light inside of a shattered containment chamber on the north wall, similar in design to the one that had held the Atma Ray.

Stepping cautiously into the large and darkened room, they kept their senses on alert for danger, but there were no sounds or movements that would indicate that whoever had done this was still here. It wasn't until they came closer to the destroyed containment chamber that one of its random sparks of light allowed them to see the woman lying at its base. Disregarding caution, they ran to her as another flash of light showed the condition she was in. Though the dress she wore was red by design, the white lab coat she had on over it was not, yet it would be difficult to tell from the amount of blood that was staining it. In addition to the deep wound that had been stabbed into her chest, just between her supple breasts, there were a number of slashes across her body. None of them would have been enough to kill her, though. Whoever had attacked her like this had wanted to watch her suffer.

Leaning down, Cloud checked her pulse but he could already tell that it was pointless. Reaching his hand up to her blank and lifeless eyes, he slid them shut, trying desperately not to let the look of horror on her dead face affect him.

"Scarlet Grant." Jessie said as she looked at the ID tag that was on her lab coat. "I'd never seen what she looked like until now."

"One of the Empire's top scientists." Cloud nodded as he stood up and stepped away from her body. "Weapons research mostly."

"Yeah." Jessie's lips curled. "She probably caused a lot of deaths. It's good to know she won't be doing that anymore."

"No one deserves to die in such a manner." Nanaki scolded the terrorist girl as he looked to the corpse in sympathy. "This woman was tortured to death."

"But by whom?" Aerith asked from the back of the group.

"Who knows, let's just g—" Cloud cut off as a horrible feeling leapt up inside of him, and he turned to look to Aerith.

Just behind the beautiful girl in the violet dress, the shadows moved and as Cloud stared in horror two points of light emerged from the darkness; a set of dully glowing aqua-green eyes slit like a cats that pierced the darkness in a terrifying manner. There was no question as to who they belonged to. No one else had eyes like that.

Time crawled to a halt as Sephiroth Kagemusha came up behind Aerith, and with a gruesome sound the tip of his sword erupted from her chest as he stabbed it through her back. Her beautiful eyes went wide as her blood sprayed out from the swift blow, and her mouth dropped open in a wordless cry of pain. With dark and demented laughter, Sephiroth's left hand grasped at the back of her hair, and with his right foot he kicked her hard in the spine, sending her flying forward and off of the Masamune as he ripped the ribbon from her hair.

Cloud screamed out for her as she was flung forward and into his arms. The second he caught her he dropped to his knees and rolled her onto her back, placing his hands over the grievous wound that was spreading a pool of blood across the floor. As he began to channel all his might into a cure spell that began to flood through Aerith's body, Sephiroth, the man who was supposed to be dead, unwrapped the ribbon in his hand and tossed it aside; in his hand he held the Cetra spell orb, Holy.

"I have what I came for." Sephiroth said as he placed the bloody Masamune back in its sheath at his side. Reaching into the black material of his trench coat he withdrew a second object; some sort of gray and red box with dozens of small circular designs and alien words carved over it. Looking to both of them, his lips split into a smile that could frighten the devil.

"Enjoy your final moments of life, my precious pawns." Sephiroth laughed as his body began to flicker as if it were some sort of illusion.

Upon his words, Tifa instantly closed her eyes and began uttering a very quick spell beneath her breath. Just as she finished her chant, Sephiroth vanished into thin air as if he had never been there to begin with, but the badly injured woman lying on the floor proved that it hadn't been a simple hallucination. The entire ordeal had lasted merely thirty seconds.

Fearing for the life of their friend, the others huddled around Cloud as he continued his healing efforts on Aerith, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. Dropping to his knees, Nanaki added his magical strength to the mix by casting a curative spell of his own. For several minutes no one spoke until at last Cloud broke his concentration.

"This isn't enough." Cloud choked on his words as tears began to well up in his eyes. "I don't know if we can save her!"

"We must take her to my people!" Nanaki ordered as he too broke his spell. "Our skills alone will only prolong her death, but my brothers and sisters could combine their abilities to save her. We must be quick!"

Trying desperately to hold back his tears, Cloud nodded feverishly and pulled a radio from his belt. Handing it to Tifa, he resumed his spell over Aerith's wound. Though he couldn't focus on it right now, there was another very important reason that they needed to leave. Sephiroth had told them they were about to die, which meant that this tower was far from safe.

* * *

Everyone took cover and braced themselves as Nanaki stood before the west wall of the Magic and Technology Research Division's floor chanting a spell. As the feline boy raised his hands into the air an enormous column of red and orange fire leapt from his palms and crashed into the wall. Upon impact the wall was blown outwards, leaving a large and gaping hole in the side of the building. Tifa had told Cid to watch for their 'signal' when she'd radioed the Highwind, and sure enough, the aging pilot had assumed that to be it. As its propellers and engines thumped loudly, the Highwind lowered its boarding ramp and edged dangerously close to the tower. With expert piloting, and a little luck, Cid was able to diagonally position the ship well enough that the ramp nearly touched the exit that Nanaki had made for them.

Though they had managed to temporarily stop Aerith's bleeding, the unconscious girl was still in critical condition. Fearing that jostling her may cause the terrible wound piercing her body to tear open again, Tifa used her gray magic to cast float. It was a spell that lifted a person or an object off the ground and allowed it to be moved about freely by the caster. With great care, she used the spell to guide Aerith into the Highwind. The others, who weren't even close to being as injured as Aerith was, jumped onto and ran up the boarding ramp with little trouble. With them all aboard, the Highwind slowly began to move away from the tower just as a large blue light erupted from the first floor lobby. It was some sort of magical attack, possibly even Ultima though they couldn't tell from this distance. As the spell decimated the lobby it destabilized the entire tower. With a thousand terrible sounds, the massive structure began to collapse down on top of the weakened lower floors.

The Highwind sped away from Midgar as Rufus' tower gave way completely and toppled down in a spectacular display of smoke and flame. The entire city shook as the mighty building ironically fell over top of Sector Seven, destroying even more of it than the battle that took place there ever could have.

As the airships ramp sealed again, Cloud and Nanaki instantly began their healing efforts on Aerith. The severity of the wound stopped them from repairing the damage that had been done, but they could stop her condition from getting any worse. Tifa took it upon herself to run through the ship to the command deck where Miyama, Yuffie, Barret, Cid, and Sherra were.

"Cid, we have to go to the Frozen North!" She yelled, silencing the rest of the room immediately. "Now!"

"What are you talking about?" Cid grunted at her.

"We have to go back to the Cetra city we found there! Aerith's been hurt badly, she'll die if we don't get her there!"

"Oh." Cid frowned and turned back to his controls. "Well in that case, hold onto your ass."

As Cid and Sherra plotted a new course, the Highwind began to shift direction, breaking away from the Wutai airships that were all headed east, towards Wutai.

"Now hang on." Miyama argued. "We need to stay with the fleet! We have to see them safely back to Wutai!"

"Not today." Cid grumbled as he continued what he was doing despite the colonel's protests. "We helped you do what you wanted, now you can sit your ass down and let us take care of our girl. Don't like it, we'll drop you and your people off in the ocean."

"It's alright, colonel." Yuffie placed her hand on Miyama's shoulder to stem the tide of anger rising from the young but resolute soldier. "They're right; this is their ship, not ours."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Miyama sighed as she lowered her head towards Tifa apologetically. "Forgive me, the battle has left me strained."

"It's fine." Tifa said, not really paying any attention to it so long as they were on their way. Turning away she ran back to the crew lounge where Cloud and Nanaki were still trying their best to keep Aerith stable. To her delight a couple Wutai soldiers who knew low level healing spells had joined the cause; though their abilities wouldn't change things much, it was nice to see them trying.

"How'd it happen?" Barret said from behind her. Tifa turned to see that he, Yuffie, and Miyama had followed her out.

"Sephiroth." Vincent said calmly, though his normally expressionless face looked very pained as he stared down at the innocent girl who was dying before their eyes. "He attacked her after the fight with Rufus."

"What?" Barret asked with doubt in his voice. "Sephiroth's dead, man. And even if he wasn't, he's on our side. Why would he attack her?"

"He's right, Barret." Jessie sighed as she hugged her arms. She felt dirty for having worked with the raving lunatic she'd seen in that research room. "I can't explain it, but it was definitely him."

"If you say so." He replied, though he was still unconvinced.

"She is not improving." Nanaki sighed as he broke his spell and sat back. His breath was ragged; apparently all the spell casting had taken its toll on him. "But our spells should be able to keep her alive until we reach my people."

"You're sure they can save her?" Jessie asked with concern written over her face.

"It is her best hope." Nanaki said as he shook his head. "But there is no guarantee; the damage done is extensive. This Sephiroth channeled some sort of spell through his sword when he attacked her. The physical wound itself would have been lethal on its own had we not begun healing her immediately, but this strange spell is disrupting the flow of life throughout her body making it even harder for our abilities to regenerate her."

"She has to make it." Tifa said as tears streamed down her delicate cheeks. "We've gone through too much to lose her now."

"There is another matter that must be dealt with." Nanaki gravely stated. "When we arrive, I will take Aerith to my people and we will do our best to save her. You must find Sephiroth and put an end to whatever his plans are."

"I cast sense on the Holy orb when I saw he was vanishing." Tifa referred to the spell she'd muttered at the shadow warrior earlier as she wiped at her eyes. "I'll be able to track where it is with that."

"What does he have to gain from this?" Cloud asked through gritted teeth as he looked up from Aerith, his eyes glowing brightly from the massive amount of magical energy he was channeling through his body. "Why attack her and steal Holy?"

"I do not know what his purpose is." Nanaki's expression darkened. "Did you see the other item he had with him?"

"The stone box with carvings on it?" Vincent asked.

"Yes." Nanaki nodded. "I have only seen it in drawings, but there is no doubt as to what it was; the central item that Jenova's soul was sealed inside by my ancestors. Though the temple it was kept in had thousands of seals cast on it, the soul itself was placed inside that box. The carvings on it were magical circles and powerful spell words etched there to keep the soul in place and slowly disintegrate it over time."

"So what does Sephiroth want with this seal and Holy?" Yuffie asked.

"I cannot say. What use he would have of those items other than battling Jenova is beyond me." Nanaki sighed at his own ignorance. "But if he truly is as psychotic as I have witnessed, then whatever he plans cannot be a good thing."

* * *

Several hours later the Highwind soared rapidly through the cold air of the Frozen North towards an unnatural destination. After stopping briefly to let Nanaki take Aerith to be treated and hopefully cured by his brothers and sisters who had moved here after their home in Cosmo Canyon had been destroyed, they had continued on. Using the sense spell Tifa had cast on Holy they tracked its position, which coincidentally had been less than a hundred miles from where they were. Now as they broke through the cloud cover they could see the place where Sephiroth must be; a massive crater that stretched for miles, with a transparent white dome encircling it.

Flying low, they passed through the shimmering dome with no trouble and could see a pit at the center of the crater that descended into darkness. Several crates, and various types of supplies were strewn about the edges, indicating that there was at least one person down there. With the crater narrowing as it went down, the Highwind was unable to go all the way to the bottom, so the ramp was lowered and everyone, including the Wutai soldiers who had been with them, ran out onto the rocky ground. Strangely enough, the crater's temperature was almost tropical rather than the extreme cold it should have been; perhaps because of the energy dome around it.

As the Highwind remained in a stationary hover, the group of around fifty men and women ran towards the dark pit with Cloud at the lead. Their rush was brought to a halt about halfway there as movement caught their eyes. From all around them, men and women dressed in black cloaks with the hoods drawn down low over their faces began to shuffle out from behind rocks, crevices, crates, and from out of the pit itself. As they looked around in confusion, the black cloaked figures began to slowly move towards them, surrounding them and cutting them off from the pit.

"What the hell is this?" Barret asked, as he rapidly looked around at the still emerging figures. "There has to be a hundred at least."

"A hundred and thirty-five so far." Vincent said quietly as his ridiculously fast eyes took a headcount of the ones he could see.

"And they're still coming." Tifa said, sounding panicked as the figures continuously drew closer.

"We have to get past them." Cloud hissed as his eyes remained fixed on the dark pit that was still a good hundred yards away, and blocked by several dozen of the creepy figures.

"Shit, they aren't even talking." Jessie said as she noticeably shivered. "It's like they're all dead or something."

"We'll be dead as well if we don't do something about it." Vincent said as he slowly pulled his materia gun from its holster and readied to fire.

"We're badly outnumbered." Miyama said as she began giving hand signals for her soldiers to position themselves for combat. "And the Highwind's cannons were spent during the battle at Midgar."

"Look at the way they're moving." Jessie said as she watched the approaching horde shuffle forward. "How hard can they be?"

With an inhuman scream, one of the black cloaked figures launched herself at them with a sudden burst of speed. Squealing with a freakish echo to her voice, she brought a wickedly designed hand scythe out of her robes and slashed it wildly at Jessie. With a curse, she stumbled back away from the disturbing woman's weapon until Vincent shot a lightning round into the dark hood that hid her face. With a sigh that sounded almost joyful, the dead woman dropped to the ground, her hood falling back as she landed to reveal a young but tortured looking face with disturbing eyes of pure white.

As they looked down at the dead girl with terror and confusion in their eyes, Yuffie stepped over to the corpse and shook her head in disbelief.

"It can't be." The young assassin's voice shook. "I knew this girl. She lived in Corel."

"But I thought Shinra attacked the Outlaw City." Tifa said as she kept her eyes trained on the rest of the cloaked people who had not yet moved to attack.

"They did." Yuffie said, her voice a harsh whisper. "But there were a lot of bodies missing when I went there later. I figured Shinra had captured them for information and experiments, but.."

"But Corel was Sephiroth's city." Cloud finished for her as he looked around at the zombie-like figures with a mixture of hate and sadness. "Maybe he took them instead of Shinra."

"What in the hell is going on here?" Tifa shivered as she watched them.

"He must be controlling them somehow." Vincent observed. "They don't seem to be of their own minds."

In what could almost be mistaken for a response to Vincent's theory, the cloaked people begin to sway back and fourth in unison as if there were music coming from somewhere. As one voice, the disturbing group of defenders began to chant a single word in a way that chilled them all to their bones.

"Sephiroth."

* * *

Cid and Sherra watched from the command deck of the Highwind as the nearly two hundred figures in black all howled at once and attacked their friends and comrades. Skilled as they may be, there were a lot of the frightening attackers to fight off, and it wasn't going to be an easy battle. Spewing out nearly every curse word in his vocabulary in one amazingly filthy mumble, Cid ran to a locker at the back of the room. Throwing it open, he withdrew a long and dangerously tipped lance and turned for the exit.

"You're not going out there are you!" Sherra shrieked at him, though his intentions were painfully clear.

"I can't just stand here and watch them get slaughtered." Cid grunted as he looked back out the side windows at the fight. "I may be older than most of 'em, but I can still kick an ass or two."

Sherra's face showed signs of the emotional conflict going on inside of her. She didn't want to see the people she'd grown to know and care about get killed either, but she didn't want to lose Cid most of all. Still, he'd made up his mind, and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop him. At long last she lowered her eyes and whispered. "Please be careful."

"You know me." Cid grinned, trying to cheer her up somewhat.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Sherra smiled half heartedly at him.

"Yeah, well, I guess so." Cid scratched at his head and then turned towards the exit before stopping and looking over his shoulder. "Listen, if worse comes to worse…send the Highwind crashing into that pit and get out of here on the escape ship. Maybe that'll stop this crazy bastard if we can't get to him."

Sherra didn't look thrilled about that possibility whatsoever, but she nodded anyway. Not knowing how else to say goodbye, Cid ducked through the exit before he could screw the moment up any further and ran towards the boarding ramp. As he went he pulled a cigarette from his pack and shoved it between his lips. He stopped at the top of the ramp just long enough to light the stress relieving item, and then after a long drag, he ran out into the crater.

With a booming shout Cid leapt into the battle, using his lance to pole-vault him over the heads of several of the black cloaked figures and into the midst of a few Wutai soldiers. There were already several bodies strewn about from both sides of the fight, and with a twirl of his lance and a hard jab into one of the shrouded men's guts, Cid added another to the tally.

"Take that ya creepy bastards!" He shouted as he swung the dead body into a few more oncoming freaks.

He hadn't expected much of a greeting, which was good because the others had their hands far too full to stop and say hello. So far Vincent and Jessie had dealt the most damage. With his feral strength and materia gun, and her explosives, they'd made short work out of a good number of their frenzied enemies. Unfortunately, they were still losing. The black cloaked attackers seemed to be in a trance like state; they were completely disregarding their own safety as they assaulted, which made them far more difficult to fend off than any normal person.

As Tifa sent a sharp kick into one of the zombie like men that knocked him flat on his back, she took a moment to glance around while bouncing in her always ready combat stance. Things were looking grim. They were being overwhelmed; many of the Wutai soldiers who were with them had already fallen, and it seemed likely that they would be joining them soon. As she faced the possibility of her own demise, she realized that if nothing else, she didn't want her death to be in vain. Whatever Sephiroth was doing, it had to be stopped.

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted as she jabbed another black clad woman in the throat. She wasn't sure where he was at the moment, but she figured he could hear her if nothing else.

"I'm here!" The blond warrior called back as he came up alongside of her, shattering the spine of one of the crazed men as he did so.

"You have to go!" She said without facing him, she wanted to say more, to do more with what would very well be the final moments of her life, but she had to keep her focus on the battle. "Stop Sephiroth, we'll take care of things here!"

"There're too many of them!" He argued as he dodged one of the hand scythes they all seemed to carry and threw a hard punch into the wielders left eye. "I can't leave you here to die!"

"If you don't go now no one will be alive to stop that crazy bastard!" She yelled as she landed a solid kick to a hooded mans rib cage. "And if he really is controlling them then taking him out may be the only way we'll make it out of this at all!"

Cloud looked over his shoulder at the beautiful warrior fighting behind him, desperately wanting to say something, anything, but nothing came to mind. Tifa was right, and he knew it. At last, with gritted teeth, he broke away at a sprint. Not looking back, he held his Buster Sword out in front of him and channeled a quick thunder spell through it, using it as a shield to plow his way into the crowd of deadly foes. As the Buster Sword hit against the dark cloaked men and women the electrical currents running through it sent them flying, paving a small path for him that closed in behind him as quickly as it had opened. When at last he broke through, sustaining only a few minor cuts and bruises, he took a running leap into the pit and was quickly swallowed up by darkness.

* * *

With a thud, Cloud's shoulder hit the rock wall of the pit on his way down, causing him to tumble and eventually land on his back in a pained heap. With a groan he pushed himself up, wincing at the pain from what would most certainly be a fresh bruise beneath his left shoulder guard. The pit had been a good fifteen feet deep and opened up into a small tunnel of smooth rock that extended further down at an angle. With a grunt he lowered his legs into the tunnel and let himself slide to the bottom, where he rolled to a crouch. Here, beneath the surface at the center of the crater, was a dreamlike room of darkness. The ground he was on ended not five feet in front of him and dropped off into a seemingly endless abyss. Yet several platforms of rocky formations floated amidst the darkness, defying gravity as they gently swayed in the black air like lily pads in a pond. Coming up from the darkness in many places were semi-transparent wisps of green that he could by now recognize as traces of the lifestream.

Further into the darkness floated a large a sculpture carved from thousands of materia orbs that had been meticulously carved to form the image of an enormous heart. The abnormal statue even seemed to beat with an eerie pulse of light, and floating in mid air above it was the Holy orb. Just in front of it, standing on one of the many floating rock platforms with his back to him, was Sephiroth Kagemusha. As Cloud slowly stood to his feet, Sephiroth turned around. Gone was the heavy black trench coat he had typically worn. He now stood bare chest, his practically perfect muscles and body structure painted in strange patterns of red similar to those that had been on the Jenova seal he had stolen from Rufus' tower in Midgar.

"Hello my puppet. We meet again at last." Sephiroth said, his voice tinged with malicious intentions as it echoed through the wondrous and frightening chamber. "I trust you enjoyed the welcoming party of toy soldiers I left outside for you?"

"You tried to kill Aerith!" Cloud shouted across the cavernous darkness, ignoring Sephiroth's vile comments. "I'll make you regret that!"

"Tried?" Sephiroth chuckled with cruel laughter. "You mean she survived? She must be stronger than I had thought."

"Apparently you are too!" He replied with an angry yell. "Or did Reno just go easy on you back when we thought he'd killed you?"

"Oh that?" His lips thinned into a sickening smile. "That was merely my shadow. I'm sure that our Turk friend thought I was dead, but then, that's what I was planning."

"Your shadow? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You mean you don't know?" Sephiroth looked momentarily disappointed. "And to think you were recreated in my image, yet you know none of the power I command. I haven't left this crater in years."

"What?" Cloud looked at Sephiroth as if he were stupid. "That's absurd! You were right there with us!"

"As I said before, that was only my shadow. I projected it from here using some of the more impressive, and arcane, methods I have discovered during my time in the lifestream."

"The lifestream?" Cloud glanced around the room at the green wisps. "You know about that?"

"Do you take me for a fool, boy?" He snarled with sudden agitation. "I located this crater not long after I destroyed your precious little home. I have absorbed much knowledge from the lifestream in my time here, far more than you could possibly believe."

"There goes your little 'reformed villain' routine, huh?" Cloud shouted as additional fury began to boil up inside of him over the mention of Nibelheim. "Tell me, did hearing about your real birth from Vincent really make you lose your mind, or were you just fucking crazy to begin with and just hid it well!"

"You simple human." Sephiroth smiled with maniacal glee. "I didn't _lose_ my mind. I _unlocked_ it. The realization that I was a creation drove me mad, but it also opened my eyes. As I wandered the wasteland you call the Nibel Mountains, I came to understand my true reason for existence! Created though I may have been, Hojo placed the power of Jenova within my body before I was even born! Those cells grew with me, becoming one with my mind and my body, transforming me from any mere creation and into the child and heir of the greatest living organism in the universe!"

"You're out of your fucking mind!" Cloud shouted as Sephiroth ended his insane rant. "Jenova was a murderous demon; you talk about her like she was some sort of god!"

"Mother _was_ a god!" Sephiroth's voice boomed through the cavern.

"Your mother was a Cetra woman named Lucrecia!"

"She may have birthed me, but her genetic code was long ago replaced by my true mother, the Greater Demon Jenova, destroyer of worlds and controller of life!" He roared in madness. "And on this day I will take up my inheritance and continue her noble work!"

"Her work?" Cloud repeated quietly as he stared at the madman in horror. Jenova's 'work' had been the genocide of entire worlds, how could he possibly think he was capable of continuing such a terrible thing?

_Oh my god._

"It was you!" Cloud breathed out in horror as he suddenly understood it all. "You were the one who killed Tseng at the Cetra Temple, not Rude! That's why we couldn't find Chaos on his body! You took it!"

"Very good, my pawn." A dark grin spread over Sephiroth's face as he slowly lifted a black sphere up in his right hand. "And with it I shall ascend to god hood and make my mother proud."

"That's not how it works!" Cloud argued, knowing that it was pointless with some one as crazed as Sephiroth clearly was, but also realizing what would happen if Chaos was used. "It's going to destroy everything on the planet, including you!"

"I see the Cetra have told you much." He chuckled. "But not enough; with the immense knowledge of the lifestream as my ally, I have learned all I need to know to see my dreams come to fruition. You see, Holy, though damaged and mostly uncharged, acts in natural opposition to Chaos. The dome of light you surely passed through as you came here was a field that I've placed around this place using its power. It will protect me from the devastating effects of Chaos."

"That's not going to make you a god, that's just going to give you dominion over a dead world!"

"Ah, but that is only the protection." Sephiroth smiled as he turned his head and patted the sculpted materia heart behind him. "You see, at the center of this is the Jenova seal that I obtained in Midgar. I have reversed the effect, and the materia here will amplify its power. Rather than sealing and destroying the soul of Jenova, it will now absorb and contain the lifestream itself! As Chaos annihilates all life on this pathetic world the lifestream will grow immensely and be swallowed up here where I can claim its mighty power and knowledge as my own!"

"So is that why you led us along and convinced us to fight Rufus!" Cloud shouted. "He may have been demented but he didn't want the world destroyed! He would have stopped you, so you tricked us into killing him while you ran around and stole all the items you needed!"

"That's right my puppet." Sephiroth's eyes glowed in the darkness with sadistic glee. "And now the only way that you can stop this is to kill me yourself."

With a flick of his wrist Sephiroth tossed the Chaos orb into the air above him where it stopped and began to spin in place in front of the sculpted heart and Holy. As a dull glow began to emanate from the doomsday spell device, Sephiroth's Masamune appeared in his hands and he and Cloud both began leaping from platform to platform above the abyss towards one another. As they both landed on the same hovering rock at once their swords crossed with a metallic ring and began the battle that would decide the fate of the world.

* * *

In the city of Midgar soldier and civilian alike wandered the streets in disarray. In the uneasy silence of the afternoon that followed an unthinkable morning the citizens of the once proud city gazed around and tried to come to grips with what had happened. Some had seen the brief broadcast in which their Divine Emperor had said awful things, and those who hadn't were quickly hearing what it had shown. Some of them believed and some had denied, but all were confused. Now, as they looked upon the burning rubble that was once the tower and Sector Seven, they began to doubt that they would ever see Rufus again, god or not. In a single, disastrous day they had lost their sense of security, a large part of their city, their god, and their faith.

With Heidegger now out of the way, Zahn had taken command of the army. Rather than allow them to chase after the fleeing Wutai invaders, who were now well on their way back across the ocean, he had ordered them to fortify the city and _pacify_ anyone who threatened to make a bad situation worse. As of yet, neither the Lieutenant General, nor the High Priestess in Kalm had made any sort of official statement regarding the events that had transpired. Rumors were spreading that Elena had been prepared to make a broadcast over the Caster News Network when word of the towers destruction had reached her, and that she had not left her office since then.

As soldiers patrolled the streets, blockading any path leading to the burning remains of Sector Seven while simultaneously trying to put the fires out and search for survivors, they ushered civilians back to their homes. Still, despite Zahn's best efforts, thousands of men and women still walked aimlessly through Midgar, all wondering what they would do now that their lives had been shattered.

In the midst of this despair, a new menace appeared. Though the morning storm and its clouds had vanished hours ago, the afternoon sky began to darken as if it were night. As the citizens of Midgar watched in terror new clouds that were tinged red like blood began to form from nothingness until they covered the sky. A foul and strong wind began to pick up and whip through the sky, howling like the souls of the damned. There was no rain, but dozens of funnels swirling with red and black began to dip down from the nightmarish clouds. Unlike any normal tornado, the moment the horrendous cones touched down and began to tear the city apart, the debris that was flung around began to deteriorate.

The people of Midgar screamed and ran for cover as the terrible red storm tore through their city and the surrounding region. As the twisting tornados shredded and disintegrated building after building, smaller trails of smoky red fog began to dart down from the sky like tentacles, striking individuals at random and burning their bodies to ash in an instant. No one knew what was causing this unnatural storm, but those who still had faith screamed out to their dead god for protection while others cursed his name for forsaking them. Little did they know that Midgar was not alone in this torture; the red storm that had been created by the Chaos orb was swiftly appearing all across the world.

* * *

The fight with Sephiroth's unknowing followers had drifted away from the pit and to a high rising rock wall. Though they had fought valiantly, most of the Wutai soldiers were now dead, and those who hadn't fell yet were on the brink. The zombie like followers had diminished in numbers greatly, but unlike their hapless victims, their burnt out minds did not give in to fatigue, despair, or pain.

Tifa's back hit the rock wall as one of the black hooded men pushed her off of him and clawed at her with his bare hands as he hissed almost like a serpent. Tifa winced as a wave of fresh agony washed through her tired body from the impact, but pushed it aside as she readied her defense once again. As the man lunged at her, she sidestepped away and brought her knee into his stomach, leaning her weight into it as best she could to send him to the ground. Panting from exertion, Tifa wiped at her forehead, her tired and dizzy mind not registering that there was another attack coming from her left.

With a quiet swish, several sharp throwing stars were embedded into the dark clothed mans face, delaying his assault just long enough for Tifa to realize she was in danger and move into action. The martial artist turned and kicked off the rock wall and used it to propel her other foot into the man's face. With a sickening crunch the blow sent the stars deeper into his bone, and he fell to the ground in a twitching heap. Coming to her feet, Tifa turned and gave a brief nod to Yuffie for saving her ass before moving on to the next opponent.

Yuffie herself, along with Cid, was doing her best to keep a defensive position around Colonel Miyama who had been injured not long ago by one of Sephiroth's brainwashed followers. Though the deep cut in the young tactician's leg wasn't enough to kill her, it had effectively ended her ability to physically combat the attackers. Vincent, who could use brute force as well if not better than a weapon, had given Miyama his materia gun so that she could still contribute by firing shots from where she lay against the rock wall.

With a rasping hiss one of the black cloaked men lunged through the rest and reached Yuffie before the assassin could stop him. He grasped her slender neck and started squeezing. Choking from his grasp, the young girl landed a sharp jab to his face with her left hand that knocked his hood back. As his face was revealed, and his cataract eyes narrowed, Yuffie found herself suddenly unable to fight. The man who was choking her was Jeran; the former Turk who had helped set up many of their connections within the Holy Shinra Empire. Though the others had only briefly met him during their time in Corel, Yuffie had known the man for years. Even as he continued his attempt to crush the life out of her, she couldn't bring herself to fight back; Jeran had been a good man, and apparently he too was now a victim of Sephiroth's treachery.

"Yuffie!" Miyama shouted at the girl when it became clear that she wasn't going to fight back.

The assassin could not respond, even if she had wanted to. She would rather die than kill a man she had called a friend for so long, even if his mind was already gone. Seeing this was the case, Miyama took it upon herself and shot three fire based rounds from Vincent's materia gun that blew smoking holes through the side of Jeran's head. With an almost peaceful sigh, Jeran's grip on Yuffie loosened as he collapsed to the ground, and the young assassin fell down with him, her hands laying over his chest as tears began to stream down her face.

"Come on kid, this isn't the time!" Barret yelled from her right where he'd just been knocked to the ground and had used the immense power of his gloved arm to knock the woman he was fighting through the air.

Yuffie didn't say anything in response, but with newfound determination and hatred in her eyes, she leapt up from the dead body of her friend and let loose a scream that echoed through the crater. With swift movements she darted headfirst into the oncoming attackers, ignoring the threat to her life that such a move would cause. Drawing a short bladed nodachi from her belt, she ducked low and slashed left and right, cutting the knee tendons of two of the practically walking dead to send them to the ground. With a single and powerful backwards flip she distanced herself before darting forward again. Taking a running leap, Yuffie flipped through the air, placing her hands on the shoulders of a frenzied woman and coming down behind her. With a snap, the assassin twisted the woman's neck and let her body drop to the ground before instantly darting to her next target.

Realizing that she was going to get herself killed by straying away from the rest of them as well as the limited protection that the rock wall offered them, Vincent and Jessie both plunged headlong into the crowd too. Sustaining blows and cuts, the two of them fought hard to reach Yuffie and pull her back to the rest of them. Succeeding at last as Vincent used the bestial strength and his gauntleted arm to swipe five of the black clad followers out of their path in a single blow. Though being drug back to the wall didn't seem to calm Yuffie down in the slightest, she did at least acknowledge that it would be wiser to stay here.

As their muscles began to ache and their resolve began to waver, they fought on, hoping that they could hold on long enough for Cloud to do his part.

* * *

With a flash of metal and a loud clang, the Buster Sword and the Masamune met in mid air as their wielders fought atop the floating rock platforms. For a brief instance they engaged in a power struggle that would normally have gone in Cloud's favor thanks to the heavier and more durable sword, but Sephiroth's katana was enchanted with numerous spells that allowed it to match up just fine. The two each pushed off and took several steps back, distancing themselves from each other for the next attack and defense. Behind the two warriors, the sculpted materia heart pulsed like it was alive as the lifestream wisps around the area began to flow into it. The chamber flashed with multicolored light as the heart absorbed the lifestream being fed to it as Chaos began to consume the world.

Sephiroth laughed maniacally as he charged forward, using his amazing speed to slash a zig-zag pattern through the air that Cloud was barely able to parry. Not pausing for a moment, Sephiroth lunged again, only this time he dropped his sword hand down at the last moment and swung his left foot around in a kick that caught Cloud off guard and sent him stumbling back. With a frenzied and last minute jump, the blond haired youth leapt off of the platform just before he would have fell off the side and landed on another floating rock about five feet away.

Not letting up for even a moment, Sephiroth leapt high into the air and came down with a slash of his sword that Cloud just managed to roll away from. As the enchanted Masamune slashed the ground it left a black line where the fire materia within it had scorched the rock. With a shout that echoed through the otherwise quiet and fantastic chamber, Cloud ran at him before Sephiroth could fully return to his feet. A heavy left bound swing of his Buster Sword struck only air as the silver haired man fell flat to his back, then onto his feet in an impressive flip.

A wordless noise of exertion escaped Sephiroth's lips to accompany the quick punch to Cloud's sternum that was followed by a palm to the younger mans nose. With a crunch, a gasp and a spray of blood, Cloud was knocked to the ground, his nose broken. Groaning from the pain, Cloud barely managed to scramble out of the way as Sephiroth's boot smashed down into the ground from a flying kick.

The outcome of this battle seemed painfully clear to Cloud; Sephiroth was too fast and too strong for him to take down, especially in his current state. In less than eight hours he had fought through Shinra soldiers in Midgar, infiltrated the tower, done battle with Rufus, exhausted himself on healing spells for Aerith, and then muscled his way past the men and women Sephiroth had converted into his mindless followers. He was tired, he was bruised, he was battered, and he was losing. Sephiroth, on the other hand, was in perfect condition, and was even enjoying himself. He was just too powerful.

_That's not true._

Cloud's eyes went wide, both from the sword slash he narrowly avoided as well as the familiar and beautiful voice that had just spoken inside of his mind. Was his pain just causing him to hear things?

_Hojo recreated you in Sephiroth's image. _The feminine voice continued. _He may have more abilities and knowledge than you due to his studies of the lifestream, but your raw power equals his own. Now fight, you must win!_

Aerith; there was no other person it could be. Was it all in his head, or was she really communicating with him some how. The young girl was half Cetra; perhaps she was speaking to him through the lifestream that he was so finely attuned to. Bugenhagen had told them that the Cetra had many abilities; could this be one of them? But if it really was her, was she speaking to him through the lifestream while in her unconscious and badly wounded state?

_Or has she died and returned to the lifestream herself? _The thought made him feel as if he would collapse.

A sudden flash of pain from his left arm brought him back to the fight as Sephiroth managed to lay in a hit. It wasn't deep, only a flesh wound really, but it still hurt like hell. Grinding his teeth from the pain and in renewed determination, Cloud placed both hands on the hilt of his cleaving sword and swung it hard to the side. Moving quickly with steps so swift and perfect that it could nearly be a dance, Sephiroth fell into a defensive position and parried the blow. In retaliation, Cloud took a sweeping step to his left and threw his body weight around, flinging himself into a half spin that sent his sword arm hurling in the opposite direction. Sephiroth again blocked, but did so with a quiet grunt of effort this time.

"So maybe there's some fight in you after all!" The shadow warrior laughed as he took a single step back and then brought his katana straight down in a hard slash.

Not bothering to respond with words, Cloud let his combat do the talking for him. As Sephiroth's sword stroke fell, he brought the Buster Sword up and deflected it off to the side, leaving his opponents arcane painted chest open briefly. With a hard shoulder check, Cloud sent the silver haired maniac stumbling. Regaining his balance with a high back flip, Sephiroth landed back on the platform they had started on.

Cloud took a running leap and arrived next to his equal, ignoring the grinding pain that pounded through his bones upon impact. To stop Sephiroth from striking him down right away, he swung wildly to his left, forcing the other man to keep his distance as Cloud pushed himself to his feet. Growling in anger while simultaneously grinning from the thrill of the fight, Sephiroth dropped low to the ground and swung his right ankle out in a low kick that knocked Cloud's legs out from under him and sent him to his back. Quickly, Cloud brought his Buster Sword horizontally in front of him as the Masamune came crashing down at him. Sephiroth was only slowed by the block for a second, but it was enough for Cloud to pull his legs up and send both feet hard into his adversary's chest.

Sephiroth was thrown through the air, but curled his body in and rolled into a crouch when he landed on the ground. Instantly he pounced at Cloud just as the blond haired man had forward flipped onto his feet. Cloud was a split second late in bringing his Buster Sword out to parry and Sephiroth knocked the heavy weapon out of his hand with a hard punch to his lower arm that caused him to lose his grip on it. Cackling madly, Sephiroth brought his katana back and drove it hard at Cloud's chest.

Cloud cried out in immense pain as the sharpened steel slid through his body, passing through his side and erupting out of his back like a hot knife through butter. Though an attempt at dodging had caused the blade to miss any vital organs, it wasn't the type of wound that would leave him alive for long. At least Sephiroth hadn't opted to use any of the blades enchantments during that strike, or he'd probably be dead regardless. Grinning from ear to ear with an insane glint in his bright, cat-slit eyes, Sephiroth used his physical strength to lift Cloud up into the air, causing him to slide all the way down the Masamune until he hit its hand guard. Cloud cried out again, biting down hard on his lower lip as blood poured down the sword and over Sephiroth's arm.

"You are only a copy, after all." The silver haired maniac's shoulders began to tremble as dark laughter boomed from his lungs.

Cloud's anger and hatred roared up inside of him as he stared into Sephiroth's gleeful face. No matter how severe his wound, he couldn't lose. If he died now, Sephiroth would maintain his summon of Chaos, and the world would be destroyed. He couldn't let that happen, and he wouldn't. Aerith, if that really was her, had been right; Hojo had made him as strong as Sephiroth, and he'd seen Sephiroth overcome wounds and odds greater than even this before. As these thoughts rushed through his mind, several of the lifestream wisps that were growing more and more frequent throughout the chamber broke from the pull that the materia heart had over them and began to flow into Cloud's body.

"I am not a copy." He hissed out through hard clenched teeth as the lifestream filled him with renewed strength. "My name is Cloud Strife!"

Despite the overwhelming pain, Cloud reached down and gripped Sephiroth's wrist. The shadow warrior made a nearly nonexistent sound of anger and pain as he tried to pry the blond's hand off with his free one, but was unsuccessful. With a loud shout and sudden burst of strength that was fueled by the lifestream and his will to see this deranged man dead, Cloud squeezed his hands down, and Sephiroth's wrist crushed in with a terrible sound. Sephiroth roared in pain as all the strength going to his sword hand failed him and he dropped Cloud to the ground.

Groaning in agony, Cloud somehow managed to push himself to his feet despite the sword still sticking from his side, and with a howling cry of torment he pulled the Masamune out of his body. As blood dripped from the thin blade, and poured down his clothing from the wound, Cloud took one stumbling step forward and then lunged at Sephiroth with feral eyes and an echoing scream. With a gasp of shock, Sephiroth was thrown to the floor as Cloud ran straight into him, tackling him to the ground and falling on top of him. There was a sickening sound as the Masamune plunged into its owners chest, and a gravely crunch as it stuck into the rock beneath him.

Pushing himself up with trembling arms, Cloud screamed in Sephiroth's face and pressed his weight against the sword, twisting and pushing it up as he did so. Sephiroth's eyes went wide as he let out a scream that shook the platform they were on but faded into a wordless groan as quickly as it had begun. For a long moment there was no sound other than the ragged breathing from both injured and dying men, but then the silence was broken.

"So in the end…" Sephiroth gasped out, his voice reduced to a horrible rasp, as a mouthful of blood began to cascade over his lips and down his cheeks and chin. "…the puppet becomes the master."

With one last scratching breath, Sephiroth's head rolled to the side, his dead eyes staring blankly into the abyss. Shaking from indescribable pain and exhaustion, Cloud slowly turned his head and looked back to the sculpted materia heart. Chaos and Holy ceased to spin and fell from the air to land with heavy thuds on the platform they had been hovering above.

At last it was over. Time passed as he stared with glazed eyes at the inactive Chaos orb, thoughts racing through his mind as he tried to hold on to what life he had left. Eventually he heard voices and footsteps, but he didn't have the strength to look and see who or what they were from. He hoped that the others were safe, but he felt so tired that he simply couldn't stay conscious. Cloud Strife released long sigh, and let his eyes close as he slumped to the ground.


	14. Epilogue In The End

**Author's Notes**

**--------------------**

This is an alternate universe story, so expect a lot of changes.

This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.

Well, this is it folks, the final story update for Altered Reality. I'm planning on updating once more next week with some afterthoughts I feel like sharing, but this is it for the actual story.

There are two endings for Altered Reality, both of which are in this update. I'll go into more detail about whyI decided to take this approach in next weekend's afterthoughts.

To coincide with the completion of Altered Reality, the last piece of artwork for my story has gone up on my website. I urge you all to check it out, as it took my wife nearly three weeks to finish. It comprises nearly two dozen characters from the story, and is, in a word, a phenomenal piece of art work that any fan of Altered Reality should enjoy.

If you have any questions, ask them in your review or post on my forum. I'll either respond directly, or address them in the afterthoughts I'll be posting next weekend.

Luminus

* * *

Epilogue

In the End

In the months that followed the fall of Rufus Shinra the world was forever changed. The red storm that had been created by the Chaos orb had existed for less than half an hour, but the devastation it caused across the globe could never truly be measured. While only a few thousand lives were lost during the storm itself, incalculable damage was done to crops, cities, and the planets ecosystem. Long after it was gone, the effects of Chaos continued to claim lives numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

The old Holy Shinra Empire was broken into two primary factions; those who followed High Priestess Elena and retained the Empires name, and those who sided with General Zahn and his Dominion of the Fist. A number of smaller groups that wished to have nothing to do with either side broke away completely, but they made no effort to form an organized government with one another.

Those who still live and serve Elena in the Holy Shinra Empire now believe that the events that transpired in Midgar were the direct results of a full scale attack by the demonic legions they had been battling for years. It is said by them that the Republic of Wutai had made a pact with these demons to attack Midgar and draw out the Empire's armies so that the demons could sneak in and do battle with the Divine Emperor, Rufus Shinra. The broadcast showing Rufus discussing his lies is believed to have been a clever fake created to sow discord and weaken the faith of the Empire. The destruction of the tower and the disappearance of Rufus have been described as a new means of attack by the demons that allowed them to seal their god away.

Ironically, the red storm that destroyed most of Midgar gave credence to Elena's theories as the devastation it caused there allowed several hundred of the Mako Demon experiments kept in the Empire's secret facilities in the city to escape and run rampant. To this day the Holy Shinra Empire does battle with the demons that have now taken up residence in the ruined city of Midgar in the belief that reclaiming their capital will allow them to find a way to bring Rufus back to them.

General Zahn, on the other hand, was able to found his Dominion of the Fist by concocting a new batch of lies, despite Reeves' dying efforts to stop him. Rather than take up a holy crusade against Wutai as he had originally intended, he decided to play on the millions of men and women who had lost their faith in Rufus. Zahn told the world that it was not just Rufus and his closest allies who were corrupt, but that the entire church had been lying to them from the start. He also described in detail how the red storm was actually a fail safe plan that the church had created. He claimed that when their lies had been exposed, they released the red storm as a plague that had been wrought upon the people of the world for doubting their faith in Rufus in the hopes of scaring many into believing again.

With all that the people had seen, these things were easy for many to accept, and Zahn used the public outcry over his version of what had happened to seize control. By swearing to see the church and all those who had aided Rufus in his crimes against the Empire destroyed, Zahn rallied many behind him. The majority of those who had lost faith in Rufus pledged their loyalty for him in exchange for the promise of revenge.

Zahn now rules his new found nation from the military base of Junon, where he wages war against Elena who still leads the church from the cathedral in Kalm in the hopes of one day taking full control over Rufus' shattered empire. The population of almost every town, village, and city are split over which story they believe. Entire families have been torn apart because they disagree and view each other as heretics and traitors. With no clear borders between the two factions, the civil war has been far bloodier than anyone could have possibly imagined. Though various regions have eventually been claimed by one side or the other, the map of the old Empire is still a miss mash of colors.

The Republic of Wutai was able to escape relatively unscathed during all of this. While the new Holy Shinra Empire still wishes to destroy them for playing a role in the death or imprisonment of their god, they are unable to launch a campaign due to their ongoing war with Zahn's Dominion of the Fist. Although Wutai was still affected by summoning of Chaos's red storm just as badly as the old Empire, their relative peace has allowed them to begin rebuilding what they lost at a much faster rate.

Only a handful of people in the world know of what truly transpired, and even fewer know of Sephiroth and the real reason behind the red storm. Over time the once highly sought after criminals who had caused Rufus so much trouble have been all but forgotten in the midst of violent wars and the pages of history. To this day, the whereabouts and identities of the men and women who truly defeated Rufus Shinra and the unseen threat of Sephiroth Kagemusha are known only to a select few.

* * *

Wake for Young Souls

(Ending A)

Tifa Lockheart walked the majestic halls and pathways of the Eternal City of the Stars hidden deep within the sleeping forest of the Frozen North where the Cetra survivors had taken up residence. Accompanying her were Nanaki, who now lead his people in Bugenhagen's wake, and Ahziralirul, the non-corporeal being who was the heart of the living city they were now inside. It had now been five years ago on this very day that the fateful battle with Rufus, and later Sephiroth had taken place.

"How are the others doing?" Nanaki asked as they strolled through the grand Cetra home.

"I haven't seen any of them in a long time." Tifa replied with an expressionless face. "Yuffie and Colonel Miyama offered to help them get a fresh start in Wutai. I know Cid, and Sherra took the opportunity. I think they've had enough of war, they deserve the rest. Last I heard they were working with the government to build an advanced cargo and passenger transport ship like the Highwind was meant to be."

"What of unknown organism called Vincent, and human called Jessie?" Ahziralirul asked in her usual haunting tone.

"I ran into them just a few months ago, actually." A smile at last came to her delicate features. "They've been traveling around together ever since we all separated. After Vincent had taken care of his vendetta with Hojo, he decided he wanted to try and make amends for all the things he had done during his service as a Turk in the Empire. Jessie was the one who got him to open up, and so she went with him to try and help him further. Though, if you ask me, I think she's kind of falling for the creepy guy."

"I am glad to hear that." Nanaki smiled. "They have both suffered much in their lives; it is good that they have each other to care for."

"Yeah." She nodded. "From what they told me, they just go around and try to help rebuild what was lost in the red storm. They worry me though, because they've gone out into the Midgar region a bunch of times. I mean, don't get me wrong, those people need help too, probably a lot more than Wutai, but it's dangerous there."

"I understand your sentiments, but do not fear. Blessings will shine down upon them for the good deeds they accomplish."

"I hope so. This world needs more people who want to help others."

"I fully agree." Nanaki nodded. With a slight brow quirk, he gave her a sidelong glance. "And what of you? This is the first time I have seen you in many years. Where have you been?"

"I've been around." Tifa put on a sad smile. "I spend a lot of time in the old Empire trying to find a way to bring some peace to the people there."

"And you worry for Vincent and Jessie." Nanaki flashed a grin.

"I'm a hypocrite, I know." She laughed quietly. "But I have to help; I still can't shake the feeling that all this is our fault."

"You must not give in to such thoughts. The defeat of Rufus was necessary for the world to regain true freedom."

"Maybe, but it hasn't worked out that way so far. Now everyone is being led by two lies instead of one." Tifa sighed. "At least Elena doesn't know she's wrong, which makes her better than Zahn, but that doesn't really change the fact."

"Yes, but people now follow the paths they have chosen for themselves. The truth was shown to them. It is no fault of ours if they still cling to false beliefs."

"I don't know if that's enough to justify it. Thousands are being killed every day now."

"But if we had done nothing then Wutai would have one day been eliminated by Rufus." Nanaki reminded her. "At least now there is hope that the future will bring us peace. You must be patient; these five years are but a small drop in the flow of time."

"Yeah, I suppose at least that much is true."

"And you must also remember that not all have chosen a side in this conflict; there are many who simply want peace, and they grow in numbers."

"Oh, I know. But Elena and Zahn's people are so opinionated that anyone who disagrees with them is considered an enemy. People are killed if they refuse to take a side. I mean, there are a few resistance groups here and there, like the new Avalanche team that Barret is running from out of the Fortress of Condor, but nothing substantial."

"Still, it is a start. Perhaps if these refugees find a place to gather in strength, they can live out peaceful lives."

"Actually, I've been spending a lot of time with them to do just that. We've been rebuilding the old ruins of Nibelheim as a safe place for anyone who's neutral in the conflict. The old Shinra Mansion there offers a great place to hide in case Zahn or the church comes after them."

"That is a fantastic idea." Nanaki smiled. "You should be commended for such a generous act."

"Well, it's the little things that make life worth living, you know?"

"Indeed."

"So," Tifa looked over to him. "What do you make of the recent news out of the Holy Shinra Empire?"

"I assume you refer to this mysterious new 'messenger' and the miracles and prophecies he brings with him?"

Tifa nodded.

"I think that our old friend Reno has finally decided to show himself again."

"I concur." Ahziralirul spoke up. "Recently I have detected sharp spike in the use of Jenova power. It is difficult to believe that such levels could come from any of the old Empire's regular creations. It would have to be one such as this Jenova spawn called Reno."

"So if it is him," Tifa hesitated. "Do you think the things he's been saying are true?"

"About the return of Rufus, you mean?" Nanaki asked.

"What else?" Tifa gave him a weary smile.

"I find it hard to believe that the Emperor could have survived the explosion in his office in his weakened state, let alone the collapse of his tower. Yet I suppose anything is possible; Reno could have perhaps rescued him before the tower fell."

"Well a lot of people sure are eating it up. Zahn's had a lot of defections since this messenger showed up."

"Do not fear. Even if Rufus has some how survived, he is no longer the threat he was. His powers will have greatly diminished. I would not doubt it if Reno would be superior in strength by this point."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to rally millions of people behind his lies again." Tifa grimaced. "His most dangerous aspects were his intellect and ability to manipulate the masses, not his raw power."

"True, but it is not something we should dwell on now." Nanaki sighed. "It is a future that may not even come to pass. Let us discuss it if the need actually arises."

"Fair enough."

As the three of them turned a corner and into the central area of the city, they went quiet. This was where they had first met Ahziralirul when they accidentally discovered the city long ago, and it was also one of the most heavily trafficked zones. Many Cetra went about their daily lives here where many of the city's businesses had been placed. The only other area that received more visitors was the ruined city on the surface which they had been slowly rebuilding over time.

They said nothing as they walked through the crowds of Cetra and turned down the path that would lead them to the shimmering and crystal clear burial waters, and the city control room beyond it. As they traveled down the walkway that extended over the still waters, Tifa found herself staring down into their peaceful depths and at the shrouded bodies of Cetra long past that lined the bottom of the ceremonial lake. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that Nanaki and Ahziralirul had stopped shortly behind her, allowing her to be by herself as she continued on.

Not far before she would have reached the control room, Tifa stopped walking and slowly knelt down on the walkway as she stared down into the water. As she watched, her transparent reflection in the surface of the lake began to distort as small ripples appeared within the image. With a quiet sniff, Tifa brought her right hand up and wiped the tears that were disturbing the waters away from her eyes and cheeks and took in a deep shuddering sigh.

"Well, I'm here, just like I promised." Tifa spoke quietly to no one, her voice breaking slightly during some words. "It's been five years."

Pausing briefly, the young woman was unable to control her emotions any longer. As her shoulders began to shake, her beautiful face contorted with anguish and the tears began to flow once more.

"First Nibelheim, then Zach, now this." She said in a shaking voice. "I miss you so much. And no matter how much time goes by, it doesn't get any easier to know that I'll never see you again."

She stopped as she dropped her head down and wiped at her eyes again, trying desperately to collect herself, but knowing that it just wasn't going to happen.

"Things haven't gone like we'd all hoped, but I'm doing my best to make the world a better place. It's just so hard to do it without you by my side anymore."

The waters began to distort again as the tears continued to roll down her soft cheeks and cascade into the lake.

"I feel so alone now." She said in a choked cry. "And no matter what I do, there's just this emptiness inside that I can't make go away no matter how hard I try."

Tifa went quiet then as she bowed her head down and fought to regain control over her emotions. It was several minutes before she could finally breath evenly again, though her eyes were now red from crying.

"I love you." She said in a quiet whisper.

Reaching into a small pouch she had at her hip, she withdrew a single, beautiful flower; an Icicle Petal, the kind that Aerith had told her about once. A small rock on which she had carved a short message was tied around the stem. With a sniffle, she leaned over and released the flower over the waters, watching for a moment as the rock pulled it beneath the surface before she stood up.

"I'll visit again." She whispered. "I promise."

As Tifa walked back to where Nanaki and Ahziralirul were waiting for her, the Icicle Petal and the heartfelt message on the rock sunk through the magical waters. It at last came to rest between two shrouds where the honored dead had been laid to rest with the weapons they had used to fight for peace. There its message would lie for eternity between the Buster Sword and the mage rod that Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough had wielded during the final days of their lives.

"I will never forget you."

* * *

Smile Like You Mean It

(Ending B)

With a heavy breath, Tifa Lockheart dropped the hammer she'd been using down on the top of her ladder. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she descended the steps and backed away so that she could get a good view of her work. Looking her finished project over, she smiled and gave herself a mental pat on the back for a job well done.

"Seventh Heaven?" A voice from behind her read the sign aloud.

Turning, Tifa spotted the speaker and graced Cloud Strife with a warm smile. Although they had been able to find him and get him treated fast enough to save his life, the injury he'd sustained from Sephiroth had left a permanent mark. He walked slowly towards her, favoring his left leg. He'd been weaker on that side of his body ever since that day, but as long as he was careful, he could still put up a good fight, which he still had to do on occasion.

"Just like old times, huh?" He said as he reached her and looked up at the sign she'd just placed above her new establishment.

"Not exactly." Tifa spoke softly as a sad smile touched her face. "But it's a start."

"Yeah." His mouth dipped into a frown as he dodged a pair of children who shot past them. The red-headed boy and blond-haired girl darted down into the town streets beyond them.

"I never thought there'd be life here again." Cloud said while looking over the makeshift buildings, construction sites, and piles of long burned homes that hadn't been removed yet.

"I know." Tifa nodded as she joined him in gazing at the new and largely unfinished incarnation of Nibelheim.

It had now been five years ago on this very day that the fateful battle with Rufus, and later Sephiroth, had taken place. Since then the world as they had known it had been changed drastically. The war between Zahn's Dominion of the Fist and Elena's Holy Shinra Empire seemed to escalate by the day, and any who refused to choose a side were considered enemies of both. It had been Tifa's idea to use the ruins of Nibelheim as a safe house for refugees who wanted nothing to do with the war, and had no where else to go. It was dangerous to aid anyone in these dark times, but she knew it was their responsibility to help everyone they could.

"I hate being here." She sighed as she rubbed her arms. "It brings back too many bad memories."

"We don't have to stay." Cloud told her. "We could always go to Wutai like Cid and Sherra did."

"No." She shook her head. "We're responsible for what happened to these people. We owe it to them to help them start a new life."

"We had to do something, Tifa. If Rufus had stayed in power, the world would never be free."

"I'm not sure if that was a good trade off anymore." Her voice was tinged with regret.

"I know." His lips formed a firm line. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to try and build a better future."

"Freedom, but at the cost of a lifetime of heartaches." Tifa said with a depressed smile. "Do you think these people would be as grateful to us for helping them if they knew that we were the ones who caused the Empire to fall?"

"I doubt they'd believe us if we told them." He couldn't help but grin. "I mean, it's a little far fetched, don't you think?"

"Yeah." She cracked a smile. "It is kind of out there."

"Miss Tifa!" Called a child's voice from the front of the new town square, which was currently nothing more than dirt and materials. Looking the area over, they quickly spotted a girl waving to them. "There're people coming!"

"Must be our visitors." Tifa's smile was a genuine one this time.

"We better get down there, huh?" He asked, though it was rhetorical. Before she had a chance to speak, he'd already started walking towards the makeshift gate that had been set up to protect the town.

Tifa came up next to him and the pair walked side by side through the town until they arrived at the gates. After receiving an approving nod from Tifa, the middle aged man who was serving as a guard pulled the gates open. Cloud's hand went to the hilt of his Buster Sword that hung from his right hip, but relaxed as he recognized the visitors.

Donned in his magical human disguise, Nanaki entered into Nibelheim. None of the refugees here had any idea that he was actually a full blooded Cetra. The boyish looking forty-seven year old bowed his head down to the both of them in a show of respect. Walking along with him, with her arm in the crook of his elbow for stability, Aerith Gainsborough had an impossibly bright smile etched on her cheerful face. Just like Cloud, her injury had made her weak, but she was left in worse shape than he was. She had she become unable to walk well without assistance, and anything more strenuous than a casual walk caused her to have difficulty with breathing.

Following the fight with Rufus and Sephiroth, Nanaki had taken up residence in the Cetra starship in the Frozen North, where the remnants of his people now lived. Aerith had gone with him, both to learn more about her heritage, and to better heal. With the Cetra's help, it was possible that she may one day be whole again. Though they knew little about her, the Cetra had welcomed her with open arms, and in fact, revered her nearly as much as their new leader, Nanaki. After all, she was the bearer of Holy, and had fought against Rufus, who had consumed the power of Jenova.

Both of the visitors wore clothing of virgin white that had been given to them by the other Cetra as a sign of respect and gratitude. Nanaki was covered by an elegant robe that with intricate and alien markings sewed with blue thread decorated the otherwise plain cloth. Aerith's outfit was far more eye catching, though. As she moved, the shimmering and silky material of her dress flowed over her still slender figure. The beautiful, sleeveless garb cut off below her underarms, and was held in place by two thin strings that traveled up her collar bones and tied together at the back of her neck. No longer held up by her old ribbon, her slightly curled locks of chestnut hair fell down over her shoulders. The pure color and grace of her dress, and the way her hair framed her face, gave her the appearance of an angel. Most would agree that such a statement wasn't a far cry from the truth.

"Hello, Aerith." Tifa greeted her with a friendly hug and a kiss on her cheek.

"It's good to see you again." Aerith told her as her face beamed with joy over being with her friends. Moving to Cloud, she embraced him briefly before stepping back. Although she had never told anyone, she too had developed feelings for him during their time together, but in the end he had chosen Tifa. Aerith didn't wish to lose either of them as friends, so she buried that particular emotion away and did her best to ignore it. She smiled at the pair as she looked them over. "You seem well."

"We're surviving." Cloud cracked a smile.

"Ahziralirul sends you good tidings." Nanaki said to them. "Your presence is sorely missed in our city."

"Well, we can't be everywhere, you know?" Tifa smiled.

"Yes. That is unfortunate."

"Look, we should get inside where we can talk in private." Cloud spoke up before the others could continue speaking. "We can use Tifa's place."

Nodding in agreement, Tifa waved the others to follow. Together, the four of them walked back to her new establishment, which was everything from a bar, to an inn, to an orphanage. Once inside, Cloud, Nanaki, and Aerith sat down at one of the small tables.

"Can I get you guys something to drink?" Tifa asked as she remained standing.

"I am fine." Nanaki shook his head. "Thank you."

"Uhm, I'll take a glass of water if you don't mind." Aerith smiled to her.

"Sure thing." Tifa said. Stepping behind her bar, she filled a glass from the water tap then nabbed two more glasses and a pitcher of ale. Returning to the table, she passed the glasses to the appropriate people and poured a drink from the pitcher for herself and Cloud before she sat back down.

"How have you been?" Aerith asked after taking a short drink. "Things seem to be progressing here better than you've told us."

"Yeah." Tifa nodded. "We get more people all the time, and everyone chips in. It's going faster than we thought it would because of that."

"Are you safe here?" Nanaki asked.

"We're not really safe anywhere outside of your city or Wutai." Cloud reminded him. "We've already had to fend off a few bandit attacks, but those aren't a big deal. None of the big guns have noticed us yet, but if they do we can always hide in the catacombs under the old Shinra mansion here. They'd have a hard time digging us out of there, if they could even find us to begin with."

"That sounds quite dangerous." Aerith frowned at the news.

"No more than anything else we've done before." Tifa managed a smile. "Besides, no one knows there's anything left here, and I think Zahn and Elena have their hands full with each other."

"That may be true," Aerith spoke in a worried tone. "But if Elena was to ever learn that the two of you were here, she would stop at nothing to destroy you for challenging Rufus."

"And I imagine Zahn would want you dead simply because he knows what you are capable of." Nanaki added.

"You're right." Tifa sighed. "But we can't hide forever. If they find us, so be it."

Those words caused everyone to go quiet. They stared at their drinks or the table until finally Nanaki broke the silence.

"Are the others coming as well?"

"Vincent and Jessie are. You'll be surprised when you see them, Vincent's changed a lot."

"Hell, he even cut his damn hair." Cloud chuckled.

"You're joking?" Aerith asked, clearly surprised.

"No, he's serious." Tifa smiled.

"Were they the only ones you could reach?"

"I sent a message to Barret through his new Avalanche network, but I'm not sure if it made it to him. Cid and Sherra were contacted too, but I don't know if they'll respond. I think they've seen enough of war."

"And what is it exactly that you are summoning us all for?" Nanaki finally asked the question that had been on his and Aerith's mind since they'd first received the message that had called them here.

"I take it you've heard about this 'messenger' that's appeared in Shinra?" Cloud asked. "Have you come to the same conclusion we have?"

"That this miracle worker is our long absent friend, Reno?" Aerith responded.

"Bingo." Tifa nodded.

"You didn't call us here to find out if we'd heard about that." Nanaki said, raising a brow in confusion. "What are you thinking?"

"I plan to find out if his 'prophecy' about the return of Rufus is going to come true." Cloud's tone became more serious "And if it does, we're going to do something about it."

"Still more fighting?" Aerith looked as if her stomach was upset. "Will peace always escape us?"

Again the group fell silent as those words resounded through their minds. It seemed that the world was destined to be at war. It was an unending cycle of death and rebirth, and for now they were directly involved in the outcome. In the end, though, none of that was important to them. If a battle stood in their way, they would meet it headfirst and strong. Whether their actions were the right ones or not, they would do everything in their power to change the fate of this world, and that was the only thing that truly mattered.


	15. Author's Afterthoughts

Author's Afterthoughts

Although this may be hard to imagine, the original concept for Altered Reality was a single sentence. When playing through Final Fantasy VII for probably the fifth or sixth time, the line "No one has ever seen him bleed, or cry" in regards to Rufus, struck me as being some what over stated. While Rufus had certainly been a good villain, he was hardly as unstoppable as that quote would lead one to believe.

Thinking this over, inspiration stuck in the form of one, simple idea. What if Rufus were the main villain, and truly lived up to such powerful words? From this single concept, Altered Reality began.

AR went through many changes during its draft stage. Although the general idea and primary characters stayed the same, the events that pushed the plot were constantly evolving. For example; in an earlier draft, Jenova's soul was split into three parts, and Rufus only obtained one of them. Sephiroth was created to home in on the other two pieces, which led him to locate one and take its power without Rufus realizing it. The last piece, which had been passed down through Cetra blood for centuries, was sealed inside of Aerith, which was the reason that Rufus was after her.

In this draft, Aerith would eventually be captured, and through Rufus' attempts to remove Jenova from her she would be consumed by the awakened demon's soul. Her body would eventually mutate into something akin to the Jenova parts that served as boss battles in the game.

During an attempt to rescue her, Cloud would be forced to kill her, as it was the only way to separate her soul from Jenova's, and set her free. This would inadvertently cause Cloud to become the new bearer the repressed fraction of Jenova's soul that Aerith had been carrying. Aerith's death would, of course, be the catalyst that sent Cloud out to finally confront and defeat Rufus. After this, our hero would be forced to go into hiding, as the revelation of his newfound Jenova powers made the Holy Shinra Empire, the Wutai Republic, and his own allies fear him.

As you can see, this earlier draft was very different than the much more complex and conspiracy laden story that Altered Reality finally evolved into.

Although it might seem odd, some of the more important plot elements and twists of AR were actually last minute editions. The inclusion of Holy and Chaos, for instance, came when I was well into my final draft, but became incredibly crucial to the overall story.

Another last minute decision was who Cloud would choose as his true love interest. Although the story may seem to have been about him and Tifa all the way through, it wasn't until around chapter nine that I decided how the love triangle would come to a close. My reason for picking Tifa, in the end, was her undying loyalty to Cloud. I felt that having him fall for Aerith after how long she had stood beside him would simply be too cruel. This wasn't an easy decision, however, as I liked both pairings very much.

Now, I'd like to take a moment to talk about my portrayal of Sephiroth. Although it may seem this way (and it has been brought up before by a few readers), it was never my intention for Sephiroth to be the "true villain", or the "final boss", or however you want to say it. In fact, the idea of making him turn into a villain was another of those last minute additions I was referring to earlier. In the beginning, Sephiroth was going to remain a hero (anti-hero, whatever), through the entire story. This idea was inspired by the flashback sequence where you were able to fight alongside of Sephiroth in the game. Even then, when he was a respected hero, he was somewhat dark and distant. I felt that changing him into a permanent hero, but with something of a dark side, would be an interesting way to look at his character.

Although he is technically the last enemy our heroes face, Sephiroth was intended to be a minor villain, as this story was never about him. Altered Reality is a story that is primarily about religion, and how even a wonderful thing like faith can become a terrible thing when those in power do not live up to the very things they teach. The villain of this story was always Rufus, as the quest to end his deception of the masses was the driving force of the entire adventure.

While it could be argued that Sephiroth posed the greater threat due to his use of Chaos, it must be kept in mind that he himself said that he could never have used such a thing if Rufus hadn't already been defeated. This was the sole reason that Sephiroth "helped" the heroes in their quest; so that Rufus would not be there to stop him.

I would also point out that because Sephiroth failed, his deeds would become the least damaging over time. While he may have caused massive destruction, Rufus created a religious lie that will live on for generations. Rufus created an idea, and such a thing can never truly be destroyed. He sowed seeds of hatred against anyone who didn't worship him as god, and sparked a holy war that will cause the people of the former Holy Shinra Empire to forever hate Wutai, for doing nothing more than being different.

With all this in mind, Sephiroth is best through of as another threat, rather than the greater, and an additional villain, instead of the main one. Does anyone remember how much trouble Ruby Weapon was in FFVII, even though it was only a bonus boss? Ah, memories.

For those of you who are curious as to the reasoning behind the two endings for Altered Reality, it's really quite simple. For one reason, I had thought of both endings, but was having difficulty deciding which one I wanted to use. As I struggled with the choice, I came to the conclusion that I would offer both variations up. One of the nice things about writing a fan fiction like this is that I didn't have to conform to the conventional writing methods of a physical book.

A second reason why I made both endings available is my personal preference for story conclusions. I'm a big fan of happy endings, but I rarely see one, especially in anime, a form of media that seems hell-bent on depressing the viewer. With that mindset, I originally leaned towards Ending B, which while not exactly an all around happy ending, did at least keep the main characters alive and offer hope.

However, I couldn't bring myself to shelve the more depressing Ending A, as I felt it was the more powerful of the two. At its core, Altered Reality is a tragedy. The actions of our beloved heroes, however pure in intention as they were, resulted in even more chaos and death than Rufus could have caused on his own. In that aspect, Ending A seems almost more fitting; a tragic end to a tragic tale. However, I had no desire to force the reader into taking an ending they would not be satisfied with, so I made it an option.

I feel the desire to list all of the hidden references I placed in AR, but unfortunately I never made a list of them as I went along, so even I don't know all of them. Some that I do recall are the chapter titles, which were all songs by bands I enjoy, Star Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics, Invader Zim, Full Metal Alchemist, Penny Arcade, Outlaw Star, and many more.

As I often do when I want to touch on several different subjects, I'm rambling by now. So, before this gets as long as one of my actual chapters I will bring this to a close. Before doing so, however, I'd like to thank those of you who read Altered Reality through to completion, and I'd like to thank those who reviewed the story even more. Words can not express the gratitude and joy I feel when I read the kind words that have been submitted to me. I am very proud that my story managed to bring such entertainment to my readers. A writer can know no greater compliment than seeing his work be enjoyed and appreciated, and such things really do mean a great deal to me.

Very quickly, I'd like to urge anyone who hasn't yet visited my website to do so. My wife put a great deal of her talent and effort into the art work that is found there, and they are beautiful representations of Altered Reality's characters.

I honestly can't say what the future holds for me now that Altered Reality is completed. I have turned my attention to my original fantasy series, which I believe I am now ready to begin in full. Whether or not I ever write another fan-fiction, I don't know. While I greatly enjoyed working on Altered Reality, it was an enormous undertaking, so at the very least, any future fan projects I might do would undoubtably be much smaller. Regardless, as I set my sights on future projects, I will carry the kind words of my Altered Reality fans with me and use them to inspire my work.

Thank you all for reading a story that I truly put my heart into.

- Luminus


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